Hell Lost An Angel
by Khaleesis-Fire
Summary: Alexandra had been born into the club. It was in her blood. Her dad was one of the first to join the Sons and her mother had been his proud old lady, both of them legends around Charming. She knew motorcycles better than she knew how to read. This life was her life and once upon a time, she loved every second of it. When the hell did things get so fucked up?
1. The Road Back Home

Chapter 1: The Road Back Home

_**8 Years Ago ~ June 15, 2000**_

"_This is the fifth time, Lex! The fifth! Jesus fucking christ."_

_Alex stared out of the window of her father's pickup truck, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation as the headache from last night began to settle in. Some of the night before was a blur, but the rest she remembered pretty clearly. The party, hitting that girl over the head with a beer bottle, and eventually getting arrested. Yeah, she remembered that very, very well. It was all how she ended up here, with her dad fuming in the driver's seat in front of her and her brother stifling a laugh in the seat beside him. _

"_What the hell were you thinking anyway? You remember what Wayne said last time?" her father yelled, making her wince as the sound agitated her hangover. "I can't keep bailing you out of shit and neither can your brother. That luck of yours is gonna run out."_

"_What was I supposed to do? Let the bitch talk shit about mom?" she countered sharply, making her father go quiet._

_Oliver's mirth died down quickly as their mother was mentioned. She caught her father's eye for a moment in the rear view mirror, trying to let him see that she was sorry. No matter what kind of crap she got into with the cops, she never felt as guilt as she did when her dad was mad at her. It cut deep. Deeper than she liked to admit at times. Ollie looked back at her, shooting her a smile to break the tension that was surely building in the car._

"_So a beer bottle? You get her good?" he winked at her, showing just how proud he was of his little sister._

_Alex beamed back at her brother through the pain of her hangover. "She'll probably be seeing double for a week."_

_Thomas Tate shook his head at his children and gave up on trying to hold back the smile fighting to spread across his face. "God damn, I shouldn't proud of my little girl for this crap." he chuckled, shaking his head. _

_Alex leaned forward in her seat, hugging her father around the neck loosely and smiling at him brightly. "Buuuut?"_

"_But nobody talks about your mother." he finally relented, much to his daughter's delight. "I'm gonna drop you off at home and you stay put, you hear me? Your sister gets home from school and your mom's still not feeling well."_

_Alex sighed and settled back against the seat, slipping her aviators from the top of her head on to her eyes. "Why can't I go to the clubhouse with you two? I'll be good, keep my mouth shut. I'll probably just hang out with Uncle Piney or one of the prospects."_

_Ollie shook his head. "No can do. We got SAMCRO business. No non-patches allowed."_

"_Bullshit."_

"_Hey," Thomas said, looking at his daughter once more through the rear view. "We're already late because we had to post bail for you, just listen for once, alright? And stay out of trouble while we're gone."_

_Knowing that there was no use arguing with her father once he put his foot down, she slumped against the seat and crossed her arms across her chest. She could see the Sons of Anarchy tattoos peeking out from the back of her father and brother's shirts, the same as the cut both wore. She knew what it meant, as did everyone else in town. Her old man and her older brother were members of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original. They were feared, respected and loyal to the club and only the club. She had learned long ago learned that SAMCRO was her family, like flesh and blood. They would protect her if she asked, even kill for her. It was just how things were._

"_Hey," her father said, getting her attention. "I love you, toots, you know that right?"_

_Alex smiled and nodded. "Yeah I know, I love you too, Papa." _

"_I just don't want to see you getting into deep shit that I can't get you out of. I chose the outlaw, doesn't mean you have to too."_

_"Ollie chose it." She countered, letting her eyes fall to her brother._

_"Exactly," Ollie said, looking back at her. "I chose it. Doesn't mean you gotta follow, baby girl." He cocked his head to his father. "Listen to the old man, he knows what he's talking about sometimes."_

_The statement made both he and Alex laugh. Thomas shook his head at his children. "You kids-,"_

_He didn't get to finish his sentence as a bullet flew through the driver's side window and into her father's head. It took Alex a moment to process it all. Her father's blood splattering across her face and skin, her brother's screams and the car spiraling out of control. The scream didn't tear from her throat until the car flipped. Glass flew everywhere and the sound of metal crunching under the weight of the car didn't escape her ears. She conked her head against the window of her door, making her vision blur and the world around her start to spin. _

_There was only silence when the car stopped rolling. Other than the light hissing of the car as it cooled down, she heard nothing. No breathing, no voices, nothing. She struggled to move against the door, trying to push herself up to check on her brother. The car had been flipped on to its side, and she stared up at the other door trying to figure out a way to get out._

_"Ollie," she said with a groan of pain. "Papa.. Ollie. We have to get out of here."_

_Her response was met with silence. As panic set in, she sat up and cried as the pain shot through her ribs. They were definitely bruised, probably broken with the stabbing pain she felt shooting through her chest. But she couldn't think about that now, she needed to get them out of here. She reached forward to touch Ollie's shoulder and froze as she saw the blood dripping down his face and his unmoving body. Moving her eyes to her father, her body choked with sobs as she saw the bullet hole going through his temple and out of the other side. They were both dead. Gone._

_She reached with trembling hands for her cellphone in her pocket and quickly dialed her phone to the first number that popped in her head._

_"Ope's phone, he's busy, what do you need?"_

_"J-Jax?" She choked out._

_"Lex?" He said, concern lacing his tone. "You alright, what happened?"_

_Alex shook her head, her eyes falling to her father once again. "They're dead, Jax. Papa and Ollie..." Her body broke down in sobs before she could finish._

_"Holy shit, Lex where are you?"_

_"I think we're at the bottom of Fischer, in the woods." She said quietly, wiping her tears away. "The car's tipped over and I can't get out."_

_"Look, we'll be there, alright? Just stay put."_

_Suddenly her vision began blurring. The blue sky above her was swirling before her eyes with her consciousness floating farther and farther away. She lifted her hand to her head and felt the warm liquid coat her fingers. Lifting it, she stared at the dark red her skin had turned. "Jax... I can't... stay awake." Her voice turned into a mere whisper as her hand fell limp to her side._

_"Shit! Lex we're on our way. Stay awake for me baby." She heard the motorcycles roaring to life in the background. SAMCRO was coming._

_She didn't answer as her wound and blood loss finally got the best of her. Her vision turned black before the rest of her body caught up. The last thing she saw before she completely lost consciousness were the bodies of her dead father and brother, blood coating their black Sons of Anarchy cuts and Jax's voice calling to her from her cell phone._

"_I'm so sorry Papa… I'm sorry."_

_**Present Day ~ July 3, 2008**_

Alex stared out at her windshield, her eyes straining against the rain pounding down against the glass. She could barely see past the darkness of the road, but she knew her way. Hell, she had been down it enough times in her life to know it like the back of her hand. Drunk and all. With a frustrated sigh leaving her lips, she pushed her dark hair out of her face. It had been a good 8 years since she had been in Charming. The only connection she still had left to that place was calls to her mother and Donna every week, but other than that? That town was a distant memory that she would have preferred staying away from. But sometimes life liked to throw you curve balls that you were scrambling to catch. Thankfully, this curve ball had come just at the right time. Convenience was the main reason that she was here.

She shifted in her seat as she passed the sign welcoming her to Charming. It was strange how nostalgic she felt. It was like walking down the path towards her dark and twisted past. Like looking in the mirror to when she was riding down this road on the back of a motorcycle at 18, no cares in the world. Wind in her hair, her arms wrapped around her best friend's body. She almost got chills thinking about it all. That was the time in her life when she was happiest.

"_Alexandra, we have a problem."_

_She knitted her eyebrows together, setting down her work in front of her to listen to her mother intently. "Mama, what's wrong? You don't sound too good."_

"_...I need you to get back to Charming… It's your sister."_

It only took a few words for her to agree to come back. Her mother had her like that. In a tight grip she had wanted to escape since she was 16 years old. She thought that she had escaped it when she left Charming all of those years ago, but she still had her claws deep in her skin. That was her mother after all, what was she supposed to do? Tell her no? Tell her that she had her own life in Texas and didn't need to pick of the pieces of her old one? She couldn't. Not even if she wanted to.

As the lights of the town came into view, she felt nervous again. She wanted to turn her old Mustang around and head straight back to her apartment. But she couldn't. She had signed over her lease, packed up her shit and left that life behind. She didn't even have a job to return to. When her mother said she'd be in town for a while, she knew it would be longer than that. This was a permanent stay. Especially if it had anything to do with her sister.

She breathed deep as she rounded the familiar streets, coming to stop in front of her childhood home. She cut off her engine and stared at the house, trying to summon the courage to get out and go in. But her eyes lingered on the old swing that still hung in the front yard. Her dad had put it up when she was six. Oliver had been nine back then and Annabelle only two. They had so much fun back then. Oliver would push her on that swing so she'd go so high that she'd scream. Her mom and dad always set up a blanket in the front yard and laid with Annabelle in their arms, watching the two of them play with smiles on their face.

She sighed and shook the memories away. The past wasn't going to fixed their fucked up present. Not by a longshot.

After smoking a cigarette, she got out of the car and started towards the house. Annabelle's car was in the driveway, so she knew that she was home. Deciding to let herself in, she kicked over the tacky garden gnome that her mother had been so fond of once upon a time and got the spare key that had been hidden underneath it. Had her father been anyone else, their house could have been broken into plenty of times. But loyalty and respect ran deep in this town, especially for the men who wore those wonderful leather cuts.

She opened the door and pushed it open, flinching at the state of the living room. The furniture was in the same place it had always been. Her mother never could redecorate the house, even if she wanted to. There were a lot of memories in this place. She stepped over the clothes and garbage that littered the floors, grimacing at the smell of alcohol that surely came from the carpet. What the hell had her sister been doing? She got her answer as she wandered into the kitchen, sighing as she found her younger sister slumped over the kitchen table with a needle lying a few feet away.

"Jesus christ," she said, walking over and shaking her shoulder. "Belle… come on, wake up."

The girl shifted slightly, opening her eyes to peer up at her older sister. "Alex?" She grimaced instantly, turning her head back into her arms. "Fuck, go away."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me, Annabelle." Alex fumed, running a hand through her hair as she grabbed the syringe. "What the hell are you on? Ex? Heroin?"

"None of your fucking business, Alex." she snapped back, her words slurring under her high. "Leave me alone."

"Leave you alone?" Alex hadn't had the urge to slap her sister since they were teenagers, but she was seriously considering it at the moment. "You haven't seen me in eight years and that's what you have to say? Leave you alone?"

"Do you not know English?" the younger Tate woman growled, reaching for the syringe. "Give it back."

Alex yanked it out of her reach, glaring daggers at the girl. "You try to take this from me and I'm going to kick your ass." she warned. "You're here getting high while Mama's in the hospital. On top of that, the house looks like shit. You've been throwing parties while your mother is sick! What the hell is wrong with you, Annabelle?!"

Despite the drugs in her system, Annabelle still was able to give her sister one of her nastiest glares. She tried to push herself up out of the chair, only to fall back, cursing under her breath. Alex ran her eyes over her, barely recognizing the woman in front of her. There were track marks all over her arms and legs, mostly on her hands from the hundreds of times she must have stuck herself with the needle. Annabelle had always been a thin girl, but she was so skinny, Alex was afraid that she would break. How the hell had it gotten this bad? Her mom had told her that her last bout of rehab had been working, but seeing the house and the state that she was in proved otherwise.

"You think," Annabelle began, pushing her dark locks out of her face in irritation. "That you can just show up here and tell me what to do with my life? You don't know shit, Lexi." The mocking way she said the nickname almost made Alex flinch, but she stood her ground. "This is none of your business."

Alex slammed her hand on the kitchen table, making the girl jump. She got close to her sister's face, catching the glint of fear in the hazel eyes that matched her's and made sure that the fear stuck. "When my sick mother calls me from the hospital to tell me that my Crank addicted sister has destroyed the house we grew up in, it becomes my fucking business, you got that?" she growled at her. "And when that same Crank addicted sister has wasted the money I send you guys every month for upkeep on bullshit to keep you high, it becomes my mother fucking problem. Four times in rehab, right? I paid for that shit and you can't even stay clean for more than a couple of months. Does what Mama is going through not sink through your fucking head?"

"Fuck you, Alex." Annabelle growled at her, not meeting her eyes.

"God, you're such a selfish little-" she cut herself short and turned away from the girl to try to keep herself in check. She took in a deep breath and told herself that getting mad wasn't going to help things. "Get this place cleaned up. I'll be back tomorrow. Be sober when I do."

"Don't bother." Annabelle told her, rubbing the bridge of her nose with one hand. "You're not wanted. Go back to your perfect life in Texas."

"Wow, so being high gives you balls, huh?" Alex mocked, rolling her eyes. "I'm gonna stay at Gemma's tonight. I mean it, Belle, if this shit isn't fixed I'm going to kick your ass all the way back to rehab, you hear me?"

"You're a bitch."

She rolled her eyes again and walked out of the kitchen, grabbing her purse as she did. She didn't even bother saying anything back, knowing that it was futile. Her sister was high and stupid and nothing she said would make a difference. She stuffed the syringe in her purse as she stalked back to her car, cursing under breath. Welcome back to Charming, Alex. With the bullshit and drama she had left to avoid in the first place. Here she was, back to take it all on once again. She must have been fucking crazy. She slammed the door to her Mustang hard as she settled back into the car, fighting back the angry tears that threatened to spill down her face. She was tired, angry and ready to punch the next person who pissed her off in the face. She didn't want to deal with this for the rest of the night, she just wanted a nice, warm, safe bed to sleep in. And she knew just the place.

As she pulled up to the house, her hazel eyes gazed at the front yard where for years she had played with her older cousin and best friend. Things were much easier back then, simpler. She could breathe and laugh and play without bad memories coming back to bite her in the ass. She could hang out with her best guys without shit hitting the fan and life's problems dropping down on her. But sadly, with age comes more shit to deal with and something told her by the time she was forty,, the shit would build up bigger than she could handle.

Alex got out of her car, making sure to lock it up before she slung her bag on her shoulder and made her way to the front door. It was about 10 PM and seeing as Clay's motorcycle wasn't in the driveway, she knew that her aunt would be home alone. Bracing herself, she knocked on the door, waiting patiently for the woman to answer.

When the door finally swung open, the emotion she had buried deep down started to push its way through. She honestly thought that it would be easier, but it wasn't. Not by a long shot.

Gemma stared at the girl standing on her doorstep, looking tired and disheveled. She had changed in the past eight years, but she was still the girl she remembered. Long black hair like her dad's, and big hazel eyes that were still filled with trouble. She had grown a little taller but was still a few inches shorter than Gemma was. She always was a bit on the small side. She got that from her mother. "Jesus christ," she mumbled, leaning on her door frame. "Alex?"

She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right, looking at her feet for a moment before she finally pulled the courage to catch her gaze. "Hey Aunt Gemma… how've you been?"

The older woman looked her up and down, shaking her head for a moment in disbelief. "A hell lot better than you look, darlin'." she said, pushing open the screen door. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just got back into town and…," Her voice cracked as she felt the weight of the drive and her family's current predicament hit her hard, exhausted beyond belief. She shook her head, a tired sigh escaping her lips. "I don't have anywhere else to go tonight, Aunt Gemma."

She stared at the girl for a moment, suddenly feeling the itch for a cigarette. She had never been able to deny the girl of anything, having loved her like her own since the day the kid was born. She had always looked after her and she wasn't about to stop now. Even if she had left them all. After a moment, she took a step to the side gesturing the girl inside. "Come on. You can have Jax's old room. We'll talk in the morning after you get some sleep. You look like shit."

Alex smiled at her, stepping into the house. "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself."

"Don't be clever, I'm tired." she said, shaking her head at the girl. "Go, get yourself to bed. I'll let Clay know you're here. Jax too."

At Jax's name, she wanted to ask her not to tell but she knew that wasn't an option. Jax was going to find out she was back in town sooner or later, along with Opie. Her older cousin was the lesser of two evils, however. She would rather they be told by Gemma than some random citizen of Charming just doing their nosy ass duty.

She turned around to look at Gemma as the older woman locked the door, biting her lower lip nervously. "Thanks for this, again, Aunt Gemma… I-"

"You know, I watched your mom give birth to you. I changed your diapers." Gemma said, walking up to face the girl. "Just because your dad isn't here anymore, doesn't mean we're not your family, you got that? You know if you ever need anything, you can ask us for help. I know you been gone for a long time, but I'm sure you didn't forget that."

Alex nodded at the woman and smiled, letting herself be pulled into a hug. If she missed anything about Charming, it was this. Family. It was something that she had desperately been in need of since she left but had been too afraid to come back to. After what happened with her sister, she almost cried at the welcome and love in Gemma's embrace, but she held it in. Tate's don't cry. Even if it was in front of the family she had left behind. Hopefully, she could finally get it back.

"Now go get some sleep. We got a lot to talk about in the morning."


	2. Wish We Could

Chapter 2: Wish We Could

Waking up in Jax's old bedroom was surreal. For a moment, she was almost convinced that the events of the day before hadn't happened and that this was just another dream about her life before. As the roar of motorcycles outside and the blaring of her cellphone brought her back to reality, she realized quickly that this was no dream. She was back in Charming in Jax's old room with Gemma making breakfast, if the smell was anything to go by. And if there were motorcycles outside, that meant one thing.

She was quick to reach for her cellphone on the bedside table and quickly flipped it open to see who was calling. Sure enough, it was her mother. Annabelle must have called her to tell her of her arrival. She was hoping to put it off for a bit, but deep down she knew that the news of her being here would spread faster than a disease. That's what she liked about Houston. It was a big city and no one knew everyone. Charming, however, was full of people who knew each other's business. Sometimes it worked out in your favor and other times, like now, it was just a pain in your ass.

She pressed the "Send" button and put the phone to her ear, laying on her back as she stared at the ceiling. "Hey Mama." she greeted, her voice low and hoarse from sleep.

"_Why the hell didn't you tell me you were here? I've been worried sick thinking you hadn't made it yet._"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, not wanting to deal with this so early in the morning. "Good morning to you too, Mama. I see you talked to Annabelle." she said, breathing deep and letting her body settle back against the old mattress. "She get the place cleaned up yet?"

"_What do you think?_" her mother mumbled into the phone. "_And don't be cute, you didn't answer my question._"

"I don't know," Alex said, knitting her eyebrows a bit. "Maybe I wanted some time to myself before I had to deal with Tate bullshit."

"_Watch your mouth, you shouldn't cuss to your mother._" She could practically see the older woman shaking her head, which would have made her laugh if she wasn't so god damned irritated. "_I'm not being discharged until the day after tomorrow, so you have to watch your sister until then._"

She narrowed her eyes at that. "Watch her? Mama, she's 22 years old, she's not a little kid."

"_No, she's a god damn addict. Just do me this favor and make sure she doesn't destroy my house, I don't have the money to buy another one._"

"Yeah, Mama." Alex finally relented, knowing full well that arguing with this woman would bring her nowhere. "I'll come to the hospital later on to visit."

"_Bring me a pack of smokes when you do._" she said before coughing. "I called your Uncle Piney too, him and Harry should be trying to find you now."

Alex bristled at the news. "Mama, if I wanted Uncle Piney and Opie to find me, I would call them. Jesus christ, I've been back a day and I already feel like my head's about to explode."

"_That's what you get for leaving._" She didn't say anything to that, only rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation. Her mother continued, despite the irritated puff of breath she gave. "_Don't forget my cigs when you come later. I gotta go. Take care of your sister._"

She almost threw her phone across the room after she closed it. Honestly, she began questioning why exactly she had come back to this town, back to all this drama. She could have been at work today, fixing whatever piece of shit car that came through the garage. But instead, she was surrendering herself to absolute bullshit. She breathed a sigh and sat up in the bed, pushing her messy hair out of her face. Looking at the clock adorned with some beer logo she didn't recognize, she cursed. It was almost eleven. She hadn't meant to sleep in that late and she knew that Gemma would march in here any minute to demand that she got up. She was already sleeping in her house, like hell she'd be a lazy ass while she did so.

She got out of bed and stretched her aching back as she walked over to her bag full of clothes and other things she grabbed from her apartment before she left. All of her furniture back in Texas had been sold or packed into storage and the few possession she had left were in the back of her car. Moving back to Charming, California was as spur of the moment as it possibly gets, but duty called for the eldest Tate girl. After getting dressed and cleaning herself up in the bathroom across the hall, she finally summoned the courage to walk out to the living room, where sure enough three bikers and Gemma sat. She slipped her ponytail over her shoulder as she finished putting up her hair, her eyes looking at the four in conversation. They hadn't noticed that she was there, so she simply stood silently in the doorway. Her Uncle Piney looked different. Older. Maybe it was his thinning hair or the tubes in his nose, but his age had certainly caught up to him. Then again, her mother -his sister- wasn't doing better.

It was Opie that saw her first. Her older cousin hadn't changed a bit. Still the big, burly bear she had known and loved all of her life. He had a few more tattoos, looked a bit meaner, but it was her Ope. She smiled at him as he caught her eye, watching the shock on his face melt away into an expression she couldn't read. Was he angry with her? She wouldn't blame him if he was, she deserved it.

His gaze gained the attention of the rest of the room, including Gemma's husband, Clay -or Uncle Clay, as she called him-. Last she remembered, he had light brown hair. But here he was with a few more wrinkles and a head of gray. Time had caught up with them all, she guessed.

She cleared her throat, turning her eyes to the floor for a moment as she controlled her nervousness. "Um…, hey." she said. She felt stupid for her greeting and she was pretty sure her face conveyed such because Opie shook his head. Good old, Opie.

"Well I'll be damned." Piney spoke, coming to stand up. "Guess your mom wasn't lying then."

She shook her head as he crossed to her as fast as his old bones could until he stood in front of her. She still felt small standing in front of him. You would think with growing up with a group of overly large bikers, she'd be used to it. Right now, she was painfully aware of how small she was. At how vulnerable she was. "Nope, I'm home." she told him. "It's good to see you, Uncle Piney."

He didn't say anything back to her. He simply brought her into his arms and held her. The gesture both shocked and gladdened her. She hesitated before wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. The smell of leather made her feel safe and at home. She didn't realize how much she had missed her good old Uncle Piney until now. He had been such a rock for her after her dad and Oliver died. He took care of her, her mom and sister when they were too stricken with grief to do it themselves. He made dinner, cleaned the house and got them through their tough times. Honestly, Alex didn't know what she would have done without him.

"Don't do that to us again, hm?" he said to her, tightening his hold on her. "We missed you to god damn much."

The words caused tears to prick her eyes. She nodded, stepping back from the hug to smile at him. "I won't, I promise."she said as she wiped the few drops that managed to escape. "I missed you too."

Her eyes turned to Opie sitting on the couch, staring at her with a mixture of emotions. She shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Piney before smiling at her cousin. "You gonna get up and hug me or do I have to come all the way over there?" she joked weakly, trying to ease the tension in the room.

It took him a moment, but eventually he rose from the couch and crossed to her. The hug was light at first, stiff. But as Alex clenched her fist around a piece of his shirt and Opie tightened his hold on her, the cousins tried to convey exactly how much they missed each other. Growing up, they were thick as thieves. They got in trouble together, kicked ass together. Hell, they even almost wound up in Juvie together. That's just how they were. They bailed each other out on many occasions when Oliver wasn't able to be there for either of them. Her older brother's death affected him just as much as it did her. But instead of being there for him, she ran and didn't turn back.

She sniffled lightly, feeling the tears rushing forth. "I'm sorry, Ope." she mumbled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"The hell you been, Lex?" He said quietly, barely over a whisper.

She shrugged, not wanting to let him go. "Here, there… Just not home." she told him as he finally let her go. She looked at the two, giving them a teary smile. "God, I missed you guys so fucking much."

"Yeah," Opie said, giving her a small smile. "You were missed around here too. How long you in town?"

She glanced at Gemma as she watched the three calmly on the arm of Clay's chair. "For good, I think." she told them. "I got some things to figure out first, but I'm thinking about sticking around."

"Jesus Christ, Alex Tate is back in Charming." Clay sighed, looking as if he was getting a headache from the memories of the hell she liked to raise with Jax and Opie back in the day.

She smiled and laughed, her tears and sadness left forgotten for the moment. "I missed you too, Uncle Clay. How've you been?"

Clay shrugged, running his hand over Gemma's leg. "Been good." he raised his eyebrow at her. "Can I say the same for you?"

She knew what he meant. None of them wanted to say it out loud, but she wasn't in the best shape when she skipped town. All of them had witnessed her downward spiral to hell and none had been able to stop it. People don't just forget shit like what happened back then. Not her, and certainly not any of them.

She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah…Yeah, I'm doing good. I, uh," she cleared her throat, looking at her Uncle Piney and Opie. "I moved around for a while but I settled in Texas about four years ago. Got a job working at this little garage there and shit hadn't hit the fan yet, so I'm guessing things have been swell."

Gemma raised and lowered her eyebrows in a rapid succession, turning to give her husband a knowing look. He returned it with a shrug of his shoulders. The silent communication between the two made Alex shoot them a curious look, turning her gaze to Piney and Opie to clear up her confusion. "What?"

"We're gonna need a yes or no on that staying for good thing, sweetheart." Gemma told her, a smirk reaching her lips. "You're gonna need a job and we need a new mechanic."

Alex beamed at her. "What, you're serious?"

"Just don't head back to Texas on a whim and we got a good deal." Clay said.

Piney put his hand on his niece's shoulder, giving her a serious look. "We owe your dad a lot, sweet pea. Least we could do." he shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her eye. "We tried with your sister. Believe me."

Alex pursed her lips at the mention of her sister, nodding solemnly at them. She didn't believe for one second that Annabelle got strung up and they just sat around and let it happen. They were family. It just pissed her off more that even though Annabelle had them around, she still fucked herself up. Alex had nobody for eight years and she had managed to do alright.

"I gotta go see Mama," she began, crossing her hands over her chest. "then I'm gonna go over to the house and see if Belle managed to get sober enough to clean up the house." She looked over at Gemma and Clay, giving them a tight smile. "Is it alright if I leave my stuff here until I get back?"

"Knock yourself out." Gemma told her. "You start work tomorrow morning. 10 AM sharp."

Alex nodded at her. "Got it." She gave Piney's hand a squeeze and smiled at him. "I'll see you later, Uncle Piney. I'll try to drop by the club house tonight."

He chuckled. "You better." he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Tell your mom I said hi."

She nodded again and bid a quick farewell to Gemma and Clay before she followed Opie out of the front door. The sun beamed down strongly on the small town. While California had its heat, it didn't compare to Houston. It was always hot and humid there, damn near unbearable. California had it good. She pushed her aviators on her face, staring at Opie's back as he walked to his motorcycle on the street. The SAMCRO logo stared back at her on his cut, the reaper bringing back memories of her childhood spent tracing the pattern of her dad's own leather. Her thoughts were interrupted as Opie suddenly stopped and turned to look at her with a serious expression.

She furrowed her eyebrows at him. "What?" she said, slipping her purse over her shoulder.

"You gotta go see Jax, Lex."

She stared at him for a moment before turning her eyes to the ground. "He know I'm back yet?"

Opie shook his head, leaning back on her car with crossed arms. "No. Thought it'd be better if you told him." At her silence, he shook his head. "He was messed up when you left, Lex. We all were."

Alex nodded, happy her aviators hid her eyes.. "Yeah, I know." She told him, her voice quiet.

"No," he said with a sigh. "You don't."

"Ope," she said, bringing her hand up to rub her temple. "I just got back, okay? I don't want a lecture right now."

Opie shook his head. "I'm not giving you one." He said. "I love you, Lex. You're my flesh and blood and I wouldn't ever let shit happen to you if I could help it. But I can't help you with the crap you left behind, I've already tried. You got a lot to bury."

"I get it, Opie, I do." She rubbed the back of her neck, kicking her heel against the pavement. "Just... One mess at a time, alright?"

Her cousin nodded in understanding. She turned to lean next to him on her car, shifting to rest her arm against his. Anyone who said she just had one big brother had it wrong. She'd always had more than one. The men of SAMCRO and Opie. There wasn't a time she felt safer than around them. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered him one, which he took with a nod of thanks. They sat for a minute, smoking their cigarettes and enjoying being with each other. It was like they were teenagers again, smoking and wasting time. Time that Alex wish she could have back.

"How's Donna?" She asked, smiling fondly as she puffed her cigarette.

Opie smiled too, shrugging his shoulders a bit. "She's good. The kids are good too." His smile faltered slightly as he said his next words. "Things been a little tense since I got out Stockton. Kids don't know me... Donna wants nothing to do with the club."

"Can't really blame her for that one." She replied.

Opie shook his head and took a puff of his cigarette. "Yeah, me neither." He sighed and looked at her. "I'm glad your back, Lex."

Alex smiled at him and nudged him lightly with her elbow. "Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out if I'm glad to be back, Ope." She told him. "I'll go see Jax. Promise."

He nodded and kicked off the car, putting his cigarette out under his boot. "You better."he joked, giving her a kiss atop her head. "See you at the clubhouse later."

She nodded and watched as he walked back into Gemma's before her smile faltered. To say that she was going to have a hell of a day was an understatement.

* * *

She sat in her mother's hospital room, watching as a nurse took blood from the older woman's arm. She had offered to leave, but the nurse had assured her that it was fine for her to be there if she wasn't squeamish around blood. Honestly, she could care less about the blood. It wasn't the reason she wanted to hightail it out of that hospital room. It was her mother.

She didn't have many great memories of her mother -in fact most of them were downright horrible- but she certainly never remembered her this way. Victoria Tate had been a beauty in her youth, with dark hair and brown eyes that made any man weak in the knees. It was the reason her father fell in love with her. But now, her mother sat before her looking sickly and pale. Her once thick hair was thinning and turning gray and the large hospital gown only made her look older as it draped over her frail body. It didn't sink in until now that her mother was very, very sick -despite how many times she told her.

"Alright, we're all done Mrs. Tate." The nurse said, pressing a gauge and bandage to her arm. "You take it easy, alright? You'll be out of here before you know it."

"Thank god." Her mother said, shifting herself on her bed. She turned her eyes to Alex as the nurse left, one of her eyebrows raised in annoyance. "They always say that but it doesn't make the shit go any faster."

Alex shook her head, crossing her legs and settling back into the uncomfortable plastic chair next to her bed. "I can't believe you almost had me getting you cigarettes." She said with a heavy sigh.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I'm fine." She told her, groaning at her aching muscles. "I've been smoking since I was 16 and that's not even what's killing me."

"Just all of your other bad habits." Alex muttered low enough so her mother couldn't hear. She sat watching her for a moment before she spoke again. "Doctor said that it doesn't look that bad now. The new kidney is doing good."

"Well," Victoria began with a shrug. "I might be old, but I have some fight in me."

"Must be a Tate thing."

At that, Victoria shook her head. "Oh no," she chuckled. "Your grandfather was given a year to live once the cancer got his lungs. Lived for two." She sat back in her pillow and smiled slightly, the evidence of pain still clear on her face. "My mama died with a cigarette in her hand and a beer in the other, two weeks after the doctors said she was good to go. Even my brother is still riding with an oxygen tank."

Alex raised an eyebrow at her mother, almost afraid to ask her question."You saying Tates die easy?"

"No, I'm saying Winstons are stubborn assholes." Alex smiled at that, leaning her head on one propped arm as she listened to her mother. "Have you talked to Annabelle yet?"

Alex shook her head. "Not today. I told her to have the place cleaned up by today. Let's just hope she listened."

Victoria nodded, turning her eyes ahead of her. Alex never could read her mother and now was no exception. When she was younger, it bothered her. Reading people, figuring out how they thought and what made them tick was a skill she prided herself in. She didn't like mysteries around her. Maybe it was something she picked up from Gemma, but she liked being able to trust her surroundings. Her mother, however, was a mystery not even Sherlock himself could crack. She'd given up a long time ago trying to figure the woman out. Instead she just took whatever she threw her

"Alexandra," Victoria said, ignoring Alex as she rolled her eyes at her full name. "Shit is real messed up right now..."

Alex let out a deep breath, turning her eyes to look at the IV drip. "Looks like it." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "...When did she start using again?"

Victoria shrugged. "Not sure. She got out of rehab two months ago and she was fine. She went to work, helped around the house. Even started talking about going back to school. Then she started dating that loser again and shit went to hell."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What loser?" she said. "You didn't tell me she was dating anybody."

"He wasn't worth mentioning." the woman spat. "He's fucking trouble, Alexandra. We need to do something about that."

Alex hummed lightly, shaking her head. "Or maybe we should let Annabelle be a big girl about this."

Victoria looked at her with narrowed eyes, but Alex was unphased. Some would cringe at her mother's glares, but after growing up with it, she no longer feared it. "You come all the way back here to abandon your sister to her face?" Victoria said with a scoff. "No doubt you're my kid, you got balls."

"Mama," Alex began, sitting up in her chair. She ran a hand through her hair, feeling the frustration settling in. "I'll always be here to get Annabelle help. No matter how many times she needs it, I will kick her ass back to rehab and I'll go to the depths of hell to make sure she's safe. But this guy she's dating? I'm not her fucking keeper, I'm not going to babysit her lovelife. She'll deal with that on her own."

"Like hell," her mother said, making Alex sigh. She knew she'd never get anywhere with her mother. "She's not going to deal with it, that's the problem. And if you're just going to sit there and do nothing, you can get the hell out."

Alex rolled her eyes and grabbed her purse on the side of the chair before she stood up. "Yeah, it was nice seeing you, Mama." she said as she slid her bag on her shoulder. "I'll be back to pick you up in a couple of days."

The scoff made her want to scream, but she locked her jaw and turned on her heel to walk out of the hospital room. She had to admit, she lasted a lot longer with her mother than she thought she would. It had gone better, too. They had never gotten along. Even when she was a kid, disagreeing with her mother had been a thing of hers and if there was one thing that Victoria hated, it was being argued with. Alex simply couldn't help herself. Call it stubbornness or calling her mother on her shit, she didn't really care for the reason. She knew for a fact that the woman didn't make good decisions. She knew it all too well.

After talking to the doctor, she made her way out of St. Thomas, stopping a few times to talk to a few people who recognized her. They asked the typical questions. "Where did you go?" and "When did you get back?". Honestly, she was almost getting sick of them, but she knew that she would have to answer at least a hundred more of them before they stopped.

She quickly walked out of the hospital after getting out of a conversation she had been dragged into with a girl she graduated with who now worked there as a nurse. While she sarcastically lamented on how she wanted to reminisce about her wonderful years in high school, she had a few more things to take care of before she went to see Annabelle. She glanced out of her window as she drove towards Teller-Morrow. She almost forgot how small Charming was. There were no tall buildings blocking the sky or tons of traffic on the streets. It was peaceful, for the most part. While she enjoyed the hustle and bustle of a big city, Charming always had a special place in her heart.

As she pulled up to the garage, her eyes caught the huge SAMCRO insignia on the side of the clubhouse. Slowly, this place was starting to feel like her home again. Hell, she half expected to walk into the garage and see her father working on his motorcycle while blaring some 80's rock on his radio. But she knew better. That kind of thinking wasn't healthy by any means.

She parked her car right in front of the garage doors, earning the attention of the mechanics. She recognized a few faces from SAMCRO. Chibs, Tig, Juice, hell, even Bobby. But one face stood out among all of them. A head of blonde hair and a pair of blue eyes that were trained on her mustang. They were all probably wondering who she was with her tinted windows blocking their view. It took her a few moments of breathing and telling herself that it was okay before she finally garnered the courage to open the car door and step out.

"_Here goes nothing." _she thought as she watched the men's faces melt into shock.

She was definitely going to have a hell of a day.


	3. Memories Are Bittersweet

Chapter 3: Memories Are Bittersweet

"Prospect!" Chibs exclaimed as they walked into the clubhouse, his arm slung around Alex's shoulders. "Get the lady a drink, anything she wants."

Alex laughed and shook her head as he guided her towards the bar. "Chibs, it's 2 in the afternoon."

Tig gave her a skeptical look as he took a seat next to her. "Says the girl I watched take five shots on this bar at 7 AM when everyone else was knocked out." He shook his head at the girl as she, Bobby, Chibs and Juice laughed as they took their seats around the clubhouse. "I'm talking everybody is smashed on their face. Everybody! Crow eaters are wobbling out of here and the club is basically trashed with people and who do you see sitting on the bar with a shot glass in one hand and a bottle of tequila in the other? Alex fucking Tate."

"I don't think I've ever seen your brother so pissed off." Bobby said with a chuckle.

Alex shrugged as she took the beer and gave the Prospect a thanks. "You would be too if you had to carry my ass out of here on your shoulder with a hangover." she beamed as the Sons all laughed at her. "Still not as bad as I've seen some of you. As I recall, I had to help carry Bobby's ass to the back when he passed out and cracked his head on the pool table."

Bobby shrugged. "Sometimes you live the life and sometimes the life lives you."

She smiled and turned her eyes to the Prospect preparing everyone some beers. "And what would your name be?" she inquired after she took a sip of beer.

He turned to look at her, a sheepish smile on her face. "Half-Sack."

"Half-sack?" she repeated with a surprised expression. She looked at Chibs. "Do I want to know?"

"No, love, you do not."

She shook her head and turned back to Half-sack, holding out her hand. "Well, I'm Alex. It's nice to meet you."

"Remember that name, Prospect." Bobby said from the couch as Half-sack and Alex shook hands. "The girl's family."

Alex smiled fondly at them as they started their own flurry of conversation, reminiscing about the old days when she hung around. Her own eyes lifted across the room to where Jax stood in the doorway. His arms were crossed over his chest, showcasing the tattoos he had over his forearms. The look on his face told her a couple different things. One, he was surprised to see her. Two, he was mad as hell. She figured now wasn't the best time to talk to him. Why in the world had she decided that this was a good idea? Right, because Opie had told her to.

"So how long you in town, love?" Chibs asked her, turning in his stool to look at everyone else.

She shrugged. "For good." At their surprise, she shrugged. "I figured it was a good time to come home. Gemma offered me my old job back. I start tomorrow."

"I bet Clay loved that." Tig said, a knowing smirk on his face. "I don't know who caused more trouble between the two of you. Jax or Alex."

It was in that moment that both of their eyes met. Alex's mirth died down at the look on Jax's face. She hadn't expected him to be happy with her reappearance but she definitely didn't expect the coldness that his gaze brought. The intensity almost made her shiver, but she repressed it and turned her eyes to the floor. Opie was right, she didn't know the damage she had left. It was worse than she thought. She didn't look up as he stalked past her to walk to the back room and she didn't look up when Chibs placed a hand on her shoulder. The rest of Jax's brothers watched him leave, knowing it was best not to disturb him in his angered state.

"He'll come around." Chibs told her. "He had a rough time when you left is all."

She nodded, offering him a tight smile to show that she was okay despite the tears that pricked her eyes. She wasn't angry at Jax, she had no right to be. She left. Alex was surprised he hadn't yelled at her yet, told her exactly how he felt. She would have preferred that actually. The silence was much too painful

She got up and headed towards the back where Jax had escaped, ignoring the questioning gazes of the SAMCRO members. Alex had to talk to him. Making him understand was out of the question but she had to make them okay. She had known him since birth. Her father had been in the military with John Teller, Jax's father, and since then the two of them were like brothers. It was only natural for the two of them to become thick as thieves. She, Jax, and Opie were the team everyone either loved or complained about. They got in trouble and fought together. It was rare to see one without the others and everyone knew not to fuck with Alex. If you did, you would have two angry bikers with one hell of a mean streak on your back. It was a wonder she had managed to even get a boyfriend in high school.

She walked down the hallway and made his way to the back room where she was sure Jax had run off to. This was his space here, anyway. She took in a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"What?" Came Jax's angry voice from the inside the room.

She bit her lip nervously, looking down at her feet. "Jax... It's me." At his silence, she sighed. "Come on, Jax. Open the door."

She heard him shuffle begin the door before it opened, revealing the angry blonde. He stared at her for a moment before he leaned in the door frame. "The hell do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk." She said, crossing her arms over chest nervously. "I wanted to explain why I left."

"Don't bother, I don't want to hear it."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed in hurt. "Jax, please, just-"

"You left. End of story. If I wanted to know, I would have asked." Jax told her calmly, despite the fact that his face was contorted in anger. "What the hell are you doing back?"

She turned her eyes from his, not being able to look at him when he was angry at her. She need could. Tucking a piece of her dark brown hair behind her ear, she shrugged. "Annabelle is in some shit and mom's in the hospital. I said that I'd stick around to help out."

Jax looked down at the girl, the emotions swirling within him making his gut wrench. She had changed over the years. Her hair was longer and without the red streaks she added in when they were fifteen. She looked older with the light circles under her eyes, a detail that brought back exactly how long she had been gone. The freckles still lined her nose and her brown eyes still held a bit of their mischievous glint that told everyone around her that she was up to no good. This was the mature version of the girl who had been his best friend for years. She was still Alex, still the same girl who had bailed him out of jail and laughed at him when he was learning to ride a bike.

"You're leaving afterwards right?"

Alex's eyes shot up to look at the man in confusion. "What?"

"After you help out, you're leaving town again." It sounded more like a statement than a question, as if he knew what her next move would be.

She quickly shook her head. "No, I'm staying. For good." She cocked her head at him. "You okay with that?"

"You say that like I have a choice." He told her, earning a look from the woman.

Alex shrugged, pushing her hair out of her face. "You don't. But your mom offered me my old job back... This is your club and the place where you work, Jax. You don't want me here, just say the word and I'll quit. I'll try getting a job somewhere else." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "But I'm hoping you'll let me."

Jax's jaw tightened and he pushed off the door frame to look down at Alex, towering over her. "You think you can just come back here and everything was gonna be okay?" She winced at his tone but let him continue. "You left us. No word, no fucking goodbye or nothing. You didn't give a shit who you hurt. Left your family thinking something happened to you… You didn't care about me, Ope, your mom, Piney-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "You're wrong. I cared about all of you. ... I couldn't stay and deal with that shit, Jax." She ran a hand through her hair in irritation. "You have to understand. When your dad died, all you talked about was getting out of here."

Jax gave her an angry glare. "That's not the point."

"That is the point!" She yelled back at him, her breathing heavy. "All I heard about when we were fifteen was how you were going to get out of this town and travel the country, the world!"

"But I stayed." Jax snapped back. "I fucking stayed because I had my mom to think about. You, Opie, Piney, the fucking club. I didn't run off when shit got tough, no matter how much I wanted to. I actually gave a shit."

She stared at him, her face contorted into pain. The tension between them was dying down, but it wasn't enough to wipe away the glare in his face. Alex took a breath, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"You're right… I didn't give a damn about who I hurt." She told him. "I left and I stayed gone… But I'm back now, Jax and I'm not leaving. I apologized, I tried to explain... But for a minute I forgot how fucking stubborn you are." She cut him off before he could say anything else, shaking her head. "I'll let Gemma know I'm not taking the job. You won't have to see me."

With that, she turned and walked away. Jax stared after her, letting a curse fly from his lips as he last biting words started to get under his skin. He didn't know what the hell he was going to do now. When he was waking up this morning, the last thing he expected was the ghost from his past to come back today. One minute he was working on a car, like any other day, and the next he was staring at Alex Tate walking her ass into the garage like it was the good old days. For a moment, he let himself go back to the past. He let himself think back to when Alex was his best friend and they ran hell together. Back to when they skipped class and smoked and laughed. But just as quickly as those memories came, so did the anger. The fact that she had left.

He sighed and kicked his door shut. He had some shit to figure out.

* * *

The sight she encountered when she walked into her mother's house was a surprise to say the least. The floor was of the debris and the smell that had hung in the air was gone. Even the furniture was back in their proper place. She guessed that her sister had actually listened to her for a change. She threw her purse to the couch and walked further into the house, avoiding the pictures that hung here and there.

The kitchen was cleaned up as well, dishes clean and floor mopped. All the evidence of her sister's addiction had been swept clean. That didn't wipe away the truth, however. The kitchen door was wide open, leading out to the balcony where she heard faint music playing. Curiously, she walked outside, shielding her eyes from the blazing sun. Her sister sat on the porch swing their father had built when they were both young. She could still faintly remember the songs he played on his guitar while she and Annabelle swung on that porch, enjoying the summer nights. She honestly wished things were like that again.

Alex leaned on the back porches' banister, looking over the too thin girl as she listened to the radio sitting next to her on the ground. "See you got the place cleaned up."

Annabelle shrugged, her eyes still focused on the back yard as the sprinkler splayed water over the grass. "It was that or hear you bitch at me. I figured I could get up to clean."

The glassy look in her eyes told Alex all she needed to know about her sister's afternoon activities. She didn't know what she wanted to do, punch the girl or hug her. Instead, she just took to standing there, watching her strung out sister helplessly. She breathed a sigh, shifting to half way sit on the banister. "So… got a job? Going to school?"

"What, Mama doesn't keep you updated on all the latest Charming drama?" Annabelle slurred, her head slumping to one side.

Alex gave a bitter chuckle. "You think I trust Mama's word?" she told the girl, who gave a small laugh in return. If there was anything that they could bond with, it was their mother and her bullshit. "All I know is how many times you've been in rehab and how many times you've lied to her. Other than that?"

Annabelle didn't bother leaning forward or turning her eyes to her sister. She simply stared off. To what, Alex wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know. "I was in school… Stopped going. It was all bullshit though."

"I doubt that." Alex said. "When we were growing up, all you talked about was school and how you were going to college."

"While you and Ollie played motorcycle with Pop." Annabelle chuckled, the sound almost coming out as a croak. "He used to dote on you guys like crazy. I was always Mama's little girl."

Alex let her eyes travel down her sister's frail and limp form, not sure how to react to what she just said. "Yeah, and look where that got you." she mumbled, knowing full well that her sister could hear her. "Papa loved you, Belle."

"I guess." Annabelle said, looking up at her for the first time since she arrived. "You staying here?"

Alex gave a short sigh and shrugged. "I guess so. It's here or Gemma's and I'm not really wanting to stay there so…" She gave her a pointed look. "But, you can't shoot up at the kitchen table."

Annabelle rolled her eyes. "I swear to god, Lex-"

"I'm fucking serious, Belle." Alex snapped at her, making the girl close her mouth from saying anything else. "Mama might let you do whatever it is you want to do, but while I'm here you will get your shit straight. You're gonna go to rehab, do what you gotta do. But you will not use in this house again, do you hear me?"

Annabelle wanted to protest, Alex could see it in her eyes. But she was in no place to argue. Not when Alex was paying most of the bills and their mother was on her side. The younger, dark-haired girl almost wanted to scream at her sister, but knew that would in no way help. "You come back here, playing the good daughter act," Annabelle began. "You used to party harder than anybody I knew. Pop and Ollie used to bury you out of so much shit… Now you're here giving me a lecture."

"Yeah, well, some of what they told me sunk in." Alex tapped her hand against the wood of the banister, itching for a cigarette. "I'm not that kid anymore. Neither are you."

Annabelle watched as she pushed herself off the banister and started to make her way into the house. "I'll get dinner started. You can come get some once you sober up." Alex said, looking back at her before she walked through the door. "I missed you, Belle… I swear to god, I did."

She stared after her sister, tears springing to her eyes. She looked down at the syringe that lay on the ground and the dried blood from the place she had pumped the drugs into her system. For the first time, in a very long time, she let tears stain her cheeks.

She couldn't say it out loud. Wouldn't. But she missed her sister too. More than she would ever know.

* * *

"Why the hell didn't you tell me Alex was back in town?"

Gemma looked up from her paperwork, looking at her son from other the edge of her glasses. "Didn't think you would want to do." she told him. "I'm guessin' she came to see you."

Jax glared at his mother. "Why wouldn't I want to know that, Ma? It's Alex."

"The girl's been through enough hell, Jackson." she said, tossing her work to the side for the moment. "She came to the house last night asking for a place to stay. Looked like shit. Her mother's in the hospital and you heard about her sister. She needed to get her head straight first."

"Since when has Alex's head ever been straight?" Jax challenged, taking a seat across from the desk.

Gemma leaned back in her seat, looking at her son with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Last time she had seen him like this was when Alex first left town. Twenty one years old and it seemed like the women in his life were disappearing one by one. First Tara, then his best friend. As his mother, his pain was her pain. She loved Alex like she was her kid, but that didn't mean she didn't hold some resentment for her for hurting her son. At the same time, she knew was the girl was going through. She went through it when she was 16. Life in Charming could get so stifling that all you wanted to do was run and never look back. Seemed the women here had a way of finding their way back.

The older woman sighed and shrugged. "You remember when your dad used to bring you and Alex to the clubhouse after school until everybody was done? All you two did was sit and fantasize about motorcycles. Used to drive Vicky nuts."

Jax simply listened to his mother, his own memories surfacing of how Alex went on and on about how determined she was to find the perfect Harley. He remembered the dreamy smile she got on her face and the twinkle in her eyes. Alex Tate was always one for mischief, always a dreamer. She was a passionate person. It was what drew people to her. When she left, she left with a tidal wave of shit in her wake. Never in her life could she half-ass anything, especially not an exit.

"You got a point, Ma?" he asked her, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was gettin' to it." Gemma said, cocking her head a bit. "You and Alex go way back. She's family."

Jax shook his head, huffing a scoff. "Family doesn't leave like she did."

Gemma rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Last I checked, family didn't exclude you from being human." At her son's silence, she continued. "You gotta get this straight, Jax. She's gonna be here whether you like it or not. Frankly, baby, I don't give a damn if you don't."

"So what, you saying we just forget she left us?" Jax asked.

"I'm saying we let the past stay where it is." Gemma told him. "She's back now. Least we could do is hope she doesn't run off again. Or cause us more trouble."

"Again, this is Alex we're talking about." Jax said, this time pulling a smile from his mother. He couldn't help but crack a grin himself. "You really think she's staying?"

Gemma shrugged, leaning her head on her hand. "I don't know. Hope so. Missed her around here."

Jax sighed, running his hand over his face. "Yeah… yeah, me too."

"_Your dad sees you doing that shit, he's gonna have a heart attack." Jax said as he walked over to the girl, a smile on his face._

_Alex looked back at the blonde as she took a drag from the joint in between her two fingers, a grin on her face directed at her best friend. "That's why I came up here." she said, blowing out a thin stream of smoke and handing the small blunt to Jax. "Won't know unless you tell him."_

_Jax took a hit, following her gaze from the rooftop to the garage. The sun was setting, lighting up the sky in a haze of oranges and pinks. Charming was quiet on that evening. The only thing that broke through the air was the roar of motorcycles in the distance. "Like I'd do that." he joked, plopping down beside her. "How long you been up here?"_

_Alex shrugged, resting her head on her knee. "A while… Good place to escape for a bit, y'know?"_

_He nodded in understanding, handing the blunt back to her. They sat in silence for a moment, happy to be comfortably around each other. There were very few people who they could be relaxed around and in times when there were none around, they had each other. It was a silent agreement between the two. _

"_Jax."_

"_Yeah?" he asked, looking at her._

_She smiled at him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "We should go to Disney World."_

_Jax scoffed. "Disney World? How fucking old are you? Better yet, is there something in this shit I should know about?" he asked, referring to the blunt she was smoking._

_"I'm eighteen, thank you very much." She chuckled and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I just… I gotta get outta this city for a while, Jax."_

_He stared at her, taking in her slightly tense posture and the lines of a leftover frown. It was no secret that Alex wore her heart on her sleeve. No matter how much she tried to hide it, the truth was always clear on her face and in her eyes. Especially to Jax. _

"_You alright, Lex?" _

_She let a small smile reach her face at the sound of the nickname only few were allowed to use. "Yeah… no… I don't know." she said, passing the blunt back to him. "Mom's going back to rehab."_

"_Shit," Jax breathed, averting his eyes from her. "You know it's not your fault."_

_It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Jax was good at those. She shrugged. "I wish I did… All the fighting and screaming we did, I'm surprised she didn't shoot up earlier."_

"_Lex-"_

"_Come on, Jax," she said, looking at him with tears in her eyes. "We all know I'm a fuck up. Mom knows it… Surprised my dad doesn't know it yet."_

_Jax shook his head. "Christ, Lex." he sighed. "You're not a fuck up. Look around, you're probably the least fucked up out of all of us."_

"_That doesn't make me feel better, Jax."_

"_Wasn't supposed to. You just need to know the truth." he told her. "You're not alone in shit. We're all fucked up in our own way. Between the club and the bullshit at home… You're stronger than this shit." he nudged her. "And your mom? ...She's always been off her rocker, I'm sorry."_

_Alex shrugged. "Once a Winston always a Winston." The joke , he knew, but he still cracked a grin for her. He'd do just about anything for her. "Can I stay at your house tonight? Opie would hover if I stayed there and uh, Uncle Piney doesn't know yet."_

_He nodded. "Sure." He let her lean her head against his shoulder, both of their eyes scouring across the rooftops of Charming. "I got your back, Lex, you know that right?"_

"_Yeah," she said, not moving from her spot close to him. "I know Jax, I got yours too. Always."_

"Donna cool with you coming here tonight?" Alex asked Opie as they both pulled into the club's parking lot.

He didn't say anything as he shifted the truck into park. He had told her about the trouble between he and Donna, how she didn't want him in the club anymore. Alex understood his need to be with his brothers, to ride with them, but neither of them could convince Donna or make her see SAMCRO the way they did. The club had been their life. From diapers to Harleys, SAMCRO was a permanent fixture in their life and it was that reason that Opie had done time for the club. Alex couldn't very well blame Donna for not wanting Opie around this. Who would be after their husband spent five years sitting in a jail cell?

"I told her I was hanging out with you." Opie told her as they both got out of the car. "Not lying."

Alex's eyes ran over the party raging through the clubhouse, a smile tugging at her lips at the familiarity. "Only half the truth." she said, earning a playful glare from Opie. "Your secret is safe with me. I seem to be doing a lot for you tonight, I told Jax he wouldn't have to see me."

Opie rolled his eyes, following her as they walked into the building past a few drunk crow eaters. "Club wants you here. Jax is gonna have to deal."

She shrugged, not bothering to argue with her older cousin. Opie was just as stubborn as his father was. Piney was nowhere to be found amidst the festivities. Bikers, hangarounds and crow eaters partied on, some playing pool, and some -namely Tig- having themselves a little fun with a few girls in a corner. Chibs smiled as he spotted the two making their way to the bar, nudging Gemma, who sat next to him. Alex locked eyes with the older woman, smiling at her.

"Glad you could make it, love." Chibs said, handing her a beer. He tossed Opie one, giving his brother a hug. "And you, Brother, we miss you around here."

Opie nodded, choosing not to explain why he had been missing from club activities. Everyone understood. Gemma gestured for Alex to sit next to her, which the girl obliged.

"How's your mom?" she asked her.

Alex shrugged. "Same old, same old. She's grouchy and sick." she said, the bitterness she felt over the topic thankfully not reaching her voice. "She gets out the day after tomorrow."

Gemma nodded. "That's good. You stayin' at the house tonight?" She held up her hand as Alex began to protest. "You know I don't give a shit. You grew up in that house as much as Jax did."

The dark-haired girl shifted in her seat, taking a sip of her beer as she stared at the bar's surface. "You talked to him?"

"Yep. He was pissed." the woman said, as if that was a surprise. Gemma knew her son better than anyone. It used to piss Jax off when they were younger, but they had gotten used to it. Everyone knew that there was no getting in Gemma's way when it came to anything. If she wanted to know everything about you, she very well could.

"I don't have to come back to work at Teller-Morrow, I can-"

"Bullshit," Gemma interrupted her with a roll of her eyes. "I need a new mechanic, you need a job. I love my kid, but he's just gonna have to deal with that shit."

Alex wanted to protest, tell Gemma that having her work there while things between she and Jax were going to hell wasn't the best option. But she kept her mouth closed. Instead, she drowned her protests with beer. Gemma stared at her for a moment, drawing out a sigh.

"I'm not gonna lie to you. You really fucked up when you left, Alex." When Alex silently stared at her beer in silence, Gemma continued. "Jax didn't talk to anyone for weeks. Opie walked around angry all the time, not even Donna could calm him down. Piney threatened to go on a man hunt and drag your ass back here… hell, I almost joined him. This club… was devastated, Alex."

"I don't know what to do, Aunt Gemma." Alex said, looking into the dark liquid in her glass. Even in a place, in a setting, where she was most familiar, she still felt like an outsider. It had taken 8 years for her to have the feeling that she didn't belong with this lie anymore. She wondered how long it would take for her to realize that this is exactly where she needed to be.

Gemma looked at her, with pursed lips and a cocked eyebrow. "What the hell happened to Alex Tate? She used to raise hell and always knew what she was going to do. Even if she really didn't."

Alex smiled fondly, but the upturned corners fell just as quickly as they came. "She ran away and grew up, Aunt Gemma."

"Well lemme know when she gets back." Gemma said, twisting in her seat to spot Clay among the crowd. "I miss her."

Alex watched the woman walk away, a sigh escaping her lips. She wasn't even sure if she knew the girl who Gemma was talking about. That girl was happy, carefree. Even if there was shit in her life, she found a way to smile. She couldn't do that now.

She chatted with Chibs and Opie, reminiscing lightly with the few people who approached her and asked how she was. SAMCRO hadn't changed one bit. Still the same band of misfits that her father had ridden with all those years ago. In the midst of her laughter, her eyes met with Jax's across the room. He had some girl on his arm, a blonde crow eater that was surely whispering anything but decent things in his ears. However, he simply watched her and paid no attention to her. She cocked her head to the side, wondering what was going through the man's head. He nodded towards the back, signaling that he wanted to talk in private before shrugging the blonde crow eater off and making his way back there. Alex nodded and excused herself from Ope and Chibs before following him towards the back. The music became muffled the further she walked to the back rooms of the club. John teller's sky blue motorcycle still sat in its display in the alcove. It was beautiful, in mint condition since Jax fixed it up after his father's accident. Alex remembered admiring the bike everyday she passed it, sending a bit of respect to John Teller. He was her favorite uncle, after all.

She finally came to the dorm room, standing outside the open door. Jax had stayed here a lot when he turned eighteen and sometimes she would do the same. Especially the first week after her Dad died. No one bothered her back there. She watched as Jax shed his jacket, tossing it on the bed before he turned around with a serious expression on his face. She kept silent. If Jax wanted to talk, he would talk. She had said all she could.

"You can work at Teller-Morrow."

Alex's eyebrows shot up in surprise at his words. She kept her lips sealed, waiting for whatever else he would say to shock her even more. "And as for the shit between us…" he began once again. "It needs to be buried. Now. Right here. We can scream at each other, do whatever the fuck we need to do, but it ends."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Yeah…" she said with a heavy sigh, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. "Well, I said all I needed to say earlier. Guess it's your turn."

She waited for him to make the first move with a breath and closed eyes. They stood in front of each other, like two strangers who just met. There was a coldness that Alex never remembered having with Jax. His expression was hard and unreadable, preventing her from knowing what he was thinking. It made her uneasy and she braced herself for the fury Jax would surely unleash on her at any moment.

However, instead of harsh words and curses, she was met with a pair of strong, warm arms wrapping around her. She opened her eyes, staring at the leather of Jax's cut. He still smelled the same. Like leather, oil and the same damn soap he had used since he was fifteen. He held her close to him, his arms tightening on her as if he were afraid she would leave again. Desperate. Alex let her head rest on his shoulder, relief and emotion overtaking her body. Tears sprang to her eyes against her wishes and she found herself clutching his cut with trembling hands.

"I missed you so fucking much, Lex." he whispered into her hair, taking in her familiar scent and this moment with her. "So much."

"I missed you too, Jackie." she said, taking in a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry."

"I know."

"I'm not leaving again, I promise."

"You better not."

She sighed once again, burrowing herself further into his embrace. For a moment, she forgot about the shit with her family. Her crank addicted sister, her sick mother and the life she left back in Houston. This was her life now, it had always been. And now, being in Jax's arms, she knew that running away from it was the biggest mistake of her life.

And she would be damned in hell if she made it again.


	4. We Are Only Soldiers

Chapter 4: We Are Only Soldiers

"_If I tell you a secret, you wouldn't tell anybody, right?"_

_Alex turned her eyes away from her brother's bike, looking at the man as he seemed to stare straight ahead with a hard look on his face. At twenty-six years old, her brother was the spitting image of their father. It was this fact that had earned him the name "Li'l Angel" with the MC. At one time he resented the name, wanting to step out of his father's shadow. But he warmed up to it, just like Alex knew he would. She adjusted herself on the floor of their garage, concern etched on her face at her brother's cryptic question._

"_Um," the twenty-one year old began, pushing some of her hair out of her face. "Of course, what kind of question is that?"_

_Oliver looked at his sister, his jaw clenched tightly. "A serious one." he said, running a hand over his face in frustration._

_Alex's concern was topped with a stab of fear. Usually, her brother was light-hearted and goofy. Not once did he look like he had any problems, even though he always had a ton. But the man sitting in front of her, looking tired, dejected and utterly defeated was something she was not used to in the least._

"_What's going on, Ollie?" Alex said, standing to cross over to her brother. She leaned beside him on the washing machine, crossing her arms over her chest. _

_He didn't look at her as he spoke his next words, making a lump appear in her throat as her fear increased. "Shit is getting real fucked up, Lexi." he breathed out, his voice strained with emotion._

_The girl tried to hide the fear in her eyes, tried to calm herself down by telling her that it was just normal club or family bullshit. But the look on Oliver's face told her otherwise. This was serious. Whatever shit he was in, whatever he was struggling to say, it was bad. She opened her mouth, wanting to question him further, but the words wouldn't come out. She wasn't sure what she was more afraid of, not knowing if something was going to happen to her brother or knowing in explicit detail._

"_We're barely holding shit together… I don't know how much longer we can run damage control before it all blows up in our faces. It's getting way too close." he rambled, clenching his fist at his side. Alex said nothing. She simply let him ramble, let him get out whatever he needed to get out. "I need you to do something for me."_

_Alex nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, anything." She meant it. There was very little she wouldn't do for her older brother. However, the words that came out of his mouth quickly made her rethink that internal promise._

"_If anything happens to me or Pop, you gotta take care of Ma and Belle."_

_Alex furrowed her eyebrows, more confused than she had been at the beginning of this conversation. "Ollie, what are you talking about? Nothing is gonna happen to you and -"_

"_Alexandra, for once in your life, just fucking listen, alright?" he said. _

_She quickly shut her mouth, her eyes wide at the way he snapped at her. He never did that. No matter what she did or how much trouble she got in, the worst she ever got was a glare. This… this wasn't like him._

"_Take care of Ma and Belle." he repeated, finally looking at her with troubled and wild eyes. "Step up for me, alright? I need to know that you'll do that if anything could happen to us."_

_Alex stared at him, taking in his troubled features and the brown eyes that matched hers, but were full of fear and sadness. "What the hell is going on, Ollie?" she questioned softly, her emotions getting the best of her._

_Oliver pushed off of the washer, turning to press a quick kiss to the top of her head. "God, I wish I could tell you Lexi… I really wish I could."_

She awoke to the annoying sound of her phone ringing. Her breathing was heavy, nerves practically on overdrive as the anxiety slowly faded away from her. She hadn't dreamed about her brother in years and even then, it had never been _that _particular memory. It was the worst one she had of him. For years, she had tried to bury it with happy ones, laughter and fun and sheer joy that was shared between them. But for some reason, that one had decided to rear its ugly head.

A groan erupted from her sore throat as she turned in her bed, grabbing blindly at the bedside table to grab the stupid device. She had half a mind to throw it at a wall, but she knew that she couldn't afford a new one if she did so. That didn't stop her from roughly flipping it open and growling out an angry "What?" as a greeting.

"_Get your ass out of bed, Tate._"

"Have I ever mentioned how much I fucking loathe you, Teller?" she breathed heavily, pulling her arm over her head to block out the sun streaming through her window.

"_Lots of times, doll, you never mean it._"

Alex rolled her eyes and turned to throw her legs over the side of the bed begrudgingly. Her muscles practically cried out in protest. That will teach her not to let the club convince her to a little Sunday night drinking. Mondays were a pain in her ass to begin with without a hangover making it ten times worse.

"Why are you even calling this early? You were trashed last night." she said as a yawn was pulled from her lips. She stuck her head outside of her door to make sure neither her mother or sister were in the bathroom before making her way there, running a hand through her hair as she did and grimacing at the tangles that her fingers caught on.

"_I'm not a lightweight, darlin'._" Jax chuckled on the other line, ignoring the scoff that came from her. "_Plus, we got club business. Gemma asked me to call you to ask if you would come in a little early to keep an eye on things while she runs some errands._"

Alex grumbled incoherently, looking at her haggard appearance in the mirror. The bags under eyes and the slight redness around her brown irises told the tale of what she did last night. Her hair was knotted and twisted around her head, and the pounding headache she had didn't help in masking any of her other physical problems at the moment. Still, if Gemma needed something from her, she couldn't very well refuse. The woman had done way too much for her.

"Yeah, yeah." she finally said with a sigh. "Tell her I'll be there in an hour."

"_Need a ride?_"

"Mhm. Gotta let Belle use the Mustang for school today." she told him as she began to strip off her pajamas. "Don't be late, Jax. If I get chewed out, I'm gonna throw you under the bus too."

"_Yeah, love you too sunshine. See you in a bit._"

Alex rolled her eyes and flipped her phone closed before turning on the shower. As she waited for the water to heat up, she sat on the toilet and let out a deep breath. It had been two months since she had arrived back in Charming and things had certainly been looking up. Work at Teller-Morrow had been steady and good to her. Being around the men that she had grown up with helped a lot in that department. They were all supportive of her return, offering to help out in any way that they could. They had even helped out with Annabelle.

Things had been rocky with her sister at first. She might have been her flesh and blood, but she was an addict and she was less than surprised when she behaved like one. The first time she and Opie had tried to take her to rehab, she had thrown a fit. She screamed, threatened them, even begged. As heart breaking as it was for her, it had to be done. She remembered Opie's face as the doctors hauled his youngest cousin off to the back room, the girl kicking and screaming as he did. Annabelle was like his little sister, just like Alex was. He and Piney had been the one who had helped their mother -his aunt and Piney's sister- take Annabelle to rehab over and over again. After she realized that, she knew that she had to find some way to repay the two. Opie got out of jail only to deal with their bullshit and she knew that hadn't been easy.

She pushed the thoughts out of her head and stripped the rest of her clothes before stepping into the shower, relishing in the comfort the hot water brought to her muscles. Her shower was quick, but satisfying none the less. She felt a million times better than she did before, definitely ready for whatever bullshit got thrown at her today.

Bothering with makeup was left out of her morning routine. If she was going to work, she didn't feel the need to look pretty for the SAMCRO boys. Most of the time, she was in the heat working on cars anyway. She tied her hair into a high bun at the back of her head before giving herself a once over in the mirror. The Teller-Morrow garage work shirt with her name on the right pocket was baggy on her, which was the reason she usually left it open to show the black tank top underneath. She always wore her jeans to the garage, learning her lesson when she was eighteen and decided that it was too hot to do so and ended up burning herself because she wore shorts. So, she settled with jeans and a comfortable pair of gym shoes.

She stretched as she went downstairs, smiling at the sight of her sister, mother and older cousin sitting at the kitchen table. Annabelle had been out of rehab for two weeks and had started taking classes at the local community college so that she would be on track to get her bachelors when she applied for a University next fall. She was always the brains of the family, it just took a little ass kicking to remind her of that.

"Mornin'." she greeted as she moved over to the table, kissing Opie on the cheek as she passed. "What are you doing here?"

Opie shrugged. "Left the house a little early this morning, thought I'd stop by."

Alex nodded as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. Her mother looked over at her, her eyebrows knitting together a bit. "What are you doing up, you don't gotta be at work until 10?"

"Gemma needs somebody to look after the garage while she's gone." she said before nodding at Annabelle. "Jax is gonna give me a ride, so you can have the car."

Annabelle lifted her eyes from her book for a moment before shaking her head. "Car doesn't work."

Alex paused her drinking to look at the girl skeptically. "What?! What do you mean it doesn't work, what happened to it?"

Her sister shrugged. "I don't know, I tried to turn it on this morning to fill it up before you woke up, but the engine died out."

"Motherfucker."

Opie shook his head at his cousin, taking a bite of the pancakes that Victoria had made him. "It's a thirty year old car, Alex, I'm surprised the thing was still running in the first place."

"It's a classic." Alex mumbled, feeling her day taking a downward spiral already. "Shit, I'll look at it when I get home, I don't have time now. You're gonna have to find another way to school."

"I'll take her." Opie said, standing up to put his plate in the sink beside Alex. "On my way to work anyway."

"Thanks, Ope." Annabelle said with a smile as she stood up and slung her backpack on her shoulder. "I have a test today and I can't afford to miss it."

Opie shook his head. "No problem, darlin'." He said as he nudged Alex a goodbye and started for the door.

"Boy, you might be ten times my size, but I'll still kick your ass if you don't get back here and say goodbye to your aunt."

The three rolled their eyes at Victoria Tate's words, but Opie quickly crossed back over to her and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. "See you later, Aunt Vicky."

"Mhm, tell your dad to call me." she called after him and Annabelle as they disappeared out of the front door.

Alex shook her head at her mother turned to put her glass in the sink. "How are you feeling, Mama?" she asked her, not bothering to turn and face her.

"Same as when you asked me yesterday and the day before that." she said, sipping her coffee. "Kidney's not gonna give out on me out of nowhere, Alexandra."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the woman. Leave it to her to complete dismiss her concern as something completely frivolous. Thankfully, the sound of Jax's bike outside saved her from making a comment that would surely lead to another argument. She grabbed her purse off of the counter and bid her mother a quick goodbye before making a beeline for the door. No matter what she did to change this household, there was no changing her mother.

She smiled when she saw Jax sitting on his motorcycle, a cigarette in one hand and his helmet in the other. He hadn't had two helmets since he broke up with Wendy, or so he had told her. She hadn't bothered asking him to get another just for her, she knew that it was out of the question. He'd get another helmet when he got an old lady. That was how it worked with him.

He sent her one of his famous, cocky smiles, flicking the cigarette to the concrete. "Mornin' sleeping beauty." he greeted, relishing in the look of annoyance she flashed him as she took his helmet.

"How are you an annoying shit this early in the morning?" she mumbled, a smile threatening to play on her lips as she slipped the helmet on.

"Talent, doll." he joked as she swung her leg over the back of the bike. "The hell's got you in a mood? Know the hangover can't be that bad."

She sighed and leaned forward so that her forehead rested on Jax's back. He leaned up, looking back at her over his shoulder in concern. "The mustang's acting up again, I gotta fix it when I get back. Then I gotta fix the freaking dishwasher and get groceries and pay off Annabelle's classes-"

"Holy shit, Lex, slow down." he said, turning on his bike the best he could to look back at her. This time, he didn't send her a playful or teasing look. It was his way of trying to convey to her that he was there for her. She knew he worried, it was the same way for her when it came to him. They had grown up together and been through a ton of shit. Having each other's back came natural, especially in times like these when one needed the other. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'll come over later to fix the dishwasher. And you know if you need money-"

"Jax-"

"If you need money, you can ask. You got shit going on right now. Just shut up and let me help your stubborn ass."

Alex smiled, looping her arms around his waist and hugging him to her. She didn't say anything, simply rested her head on his shoulder as he started up his bike and pulled away from her home.

Leave it to Jax to cheer her up when she didn't even think it was possible. He had a knack for doing that. Especially with her.

* * *

Things had gone pretty smoothly at the garage that day. Nothing out of the ordinary. People came in to pick up their cars and some dropped them off. Alex spent a good part of her day switching between office work and getting her own repairs done. Honestly, the most eventful part of that day was when Half Sack and Chibs had towed a car with a half of a dead deer sticking out of the windshield. She stayed far away from that situation, wanting nothing to do with the carnage.

Gemma had only called a few times to make sure things were running smoothly and wondered if the guys had been back. Most of them had rode off going to investigate a warehouse of theirs that had burned to the ground. Apparently, it had been seen from two counties. Alex didn't question much, just wished them luck and reminded herself that there was some things that she wasn't meant to know. Jax had stopped by to tell her that he'd be back in time to give her a ride home, but other than that she had been alone with the mechanics, the Prospect and Chibs.

Her cellphone rang as she sat at the front desk, going through a few of the orders they had yet to complete today. She reached into her pocket and flipped it open, smiling at the name that appeared on her screen. Pressing the talk button, she quickly placed the phone to her ear. "Long time no talk, Chris."

"_Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I've been busy back here since you left._" the female voice said back on the other side of the line. "_We miss you down here._"

She sighed and let a sad smile reach her lips as her eyes wandered outside. She caught sight of Jax in the distance, walking towards the clubhouse. He winked at her as she caught his eye, turning her sad smile into a genuine one."Yeah, I miss you guys too. How have you been?"

"_Can't complain, hermana._" Christabel told the girl. "_I got a favor to ask you though._"

"Sure, whatever you need." Alex said, leaning back in her seat.

"_Can I visit in a bit?_" Christabel asked, surprising Alex immensely. "_Just for a while._"

"Why is something wrong?" At her silence, Alex frowned, running a hand through her hair. "You know you can tell me, Chris."

"_I know, I know… I'll let you know when I get down there, promise._"

If she wasn't telling her now, Alex knew it couldn't be good. Weighing more problems on top of her own wasn't the wisest decision, she knew this. Dealing with her family and daily complications was a burden she had taken upon herself, even if Jax and Opie liked to wiggle in and help out from time to time. But she had never been one to say no to someone in need, especially if they were her friends.

"Yeah, come on up." she told the girl, noting the relieved sigh she gave her. "When are you gonna be up here?"

"_About a month, I got a few things to finish up with work before I even think about vacation. That cool?_"

"Mhm," she said just as she saw Gemma's car pulling up. "Hey Chris, I gotta go, I'll give you a call back later, alright?"

"_Alright. See you, hermana._"

Alex flipped her phone closed and stood to walk outside to where Gemma was talking to Jax. The look of anger and fear that crossed on his face didn't go unnoticed by her. She watched as he quickly went to get on his bike, his stance tense. With furrowed eyebrows, she walked up to Gemma, who looked just as distraught as her son.

"What's going on?" she asked, concern lacing her tone for the woman.

Gemma turned to look at her. Her sad expression made Alex's stomach flip. "We gotta get to the hospital. Now."

* * *

Alex stared into the window at the tiny newborn that lay on the incubator on the other side. He was so small, sickly. His little chest rose and fell, trying desperately to breathe and live. Her heart ached for the little boy. Born with half a stomach and a hole in his heart, a "family flaw" as Gemma had said. Tara had given the family some hope that he would recover, but the odds were against him. Jax... He hadn't taken it well, and nobody expected him to. Certainly not her. Nobody but Gemma had bothered stopping him when he stormed out of here with a murderous look in his eye.

Alex stood up straight, wiping away the few tears that pricked her eyes. Gemma stood beside her, her eyes dark and slightly red. She could only imagine how hard this must be for the woman. Hell, it was hard for her and she was barely the little boy's aunt.

"Come on, Aunt Gemma. The doctors said we can visit tomorrow. Nothing we can do now." Alex said with a heavy sigh, looking towards Wendy's room as Tara walked out.

Gemma shook her head, running a hand over her forehead as she sniffled a little. "Yeah, you're probably right. I'll come back tomorrow." she said, looking at her. "You need a ride home?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I have something to do here really fast. I'll talk to you later."

The older woman gave her a skeptical look, shaking her head as she dug through her purse for her keys. "Well tell the crank whore I hope she recovers so I can kick her ass." she told her, giving her a meaningful look before walking down the hallway towards the elevators. Her high heels echoed throughout the hospital hallways, making Tara lift her head from her chart to stare after the woman.

Alex rolled her eyes and touched the glass to Abel's room before making her way towards Wendy's. Tara stepped in front of her, looking at her with stern eyes. "What are you doing?" the doctor questioned, bringing her clipboard to her chest.

The other girl looked at her, her eyes narrowed. She shifted her purse on her shoulder, not in the mood to deal with Jax's past bullshit. Tara and Alex got along for the sole purpose that once upon a time, Jax was head over heels in love with her and Alex was his best friend. After she left, her hate for the small brunette was even greater than Gemma's. But, circumstances changed. And by circumstances, she meant her own leaving that devastated Jax in the same way. Now, she simply minded her own business when it came to the good doctor.

Except when she stepped in front of her with a glare fixed on her face.

"I'm just going to see Wendy, Tara." Alex told her, crossing her arms over her chest. "It has nothing to do with you."

"I'm assisting with her and Abel's care." Tara told her. "Who her visitors are has something to do with me."

Alex breathed deep, trying to keep her composure with the woman. The day she had, had been slowly trying what little self-control she had left. First, the nightmare, then her car and Christabel's call. She was slowly, but surely, losing what little patience she had in the first place.

"Tara… just fucking move out of the way." Alex said with an even tone, her face fixed in a sharp glare. "I want to see how she's doing."

Tara looked her up and down, trying to find some sign that she was lying. Back when they were 19, Alex had been wild and unpredictable. It used to piss her off when Jax would drop whatever he was doing with her to rush to the aid of his best friend. It still did. But despite how she felt about her personally, she knew she wasn't as malicious as Gemma. Still malicious, yes, but her fury was less than that of the biker queen.

"Fine," she said, stepping out of her way. "But she's detoxing so don't...stress her out."

Alex nodded and brushed by the woman, not sparing the doctor another glance. She faintly heard the word "bitch" fall from the woman's lips but Alex wasn't even going to bother with it. Gemma would sink her claws in her sooner or later.

Wendy was laid back on the bed, sweating and looking like absolute crap. It was completely different from when she had seen her a few weeks ago. She looked healthy, well as healthy as an ex junkie could look. Alex was an expert on matters in dealing with these sorts of situations. It was the reason she was usually sent in to deal with Wendy when neither Jax or Gemma could bring themselves to do it.

Sitting at her bedside, she waited while the woman began to stir and turn her head towards her. The blonde woman blinked a few times, making sure she was seeing correctly. "Alex?"

Alex nodded, her expression stony and without for emotion. "Hey… how're you feeling?"

Wendy turned her eyes away from her, a scoff falling from her lips. "How do you think I'm feeling?" she said, a question Alex didn't even bothering answering.

Both women sat in silence for a few moments, with Wendy staring at her hands and Alex occupying herself with staring at the heart monitor. Alex wasn't sure what she wanted to say to the woman. She didn't know if she wanted to yell at her or hit her or even give her a comforting hug. Instead, she stayed quiet, waiting for Wendy to start this whole exchange.

A sob erupted from Wendy that caused Alex to pull her eyes towards her. "I'm so sorry." she chanted, her head hunched over as she cried. "I'm so, so sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me." Alex said. "You need to apologize to Jax and that beautiful little boy in their fighting for his life."

"I know, I know." Wendy nodded, her sobs only becoming worse at the mention of her sick son. "They're letting me see him when I feel better… I… I want to make this right, Alex, I really do."

Alex shook her head, tears pricking her own eyes at the sight of the woman. "I don't know how you can do that, Wendy… I really don't know." She quickly wiped away the streaks that lined her cheeks. "They don't know if he's gonna survive or not… 20% chance they said and even that's optimistic."

"Oh god." Wendy said between her sobs.

Two weeks ago, Alex had taken this woman shopping for a few maternity shirts. She was fine then, no sign that she was using again. She quickly thought of her own mother and how she used to walk around like everything was normal and fine as well. That was the thing about addicts, they could either be the greatest con artists or the worst liars. Wendy and her mother lay in the first group, definitely. Alex simply couldn't wrap her head around what she was thinking as she shot those drugs into her system. Surely, she had looked at her pregnant stomach and thought twice about it. Did she even think about the little boy in her stomach? The precious life that was half of Jax's blood? Obviously, since they were here, she didn't.

"I'm not going to feel sorry for you." Alex told her, her anger settling into her tone. "You could have told me, anybody, but you didn't. I feel sorry for that little boy and how tiny he is. I feel sorry for Gemma because her first grandchild is addicted to crank and dying. And I feel sorry for Jax and how heartbroken he's gotta be. You know he is, Wendy."

Wendy didn't respond to that, she simply looked at her and then towards where Abel's room was. "Did Jax give them the name?"

Alex nodded. "Abel... His name is Abel."

The blonde stared at her with reddened, puffy eyes, only slightly shocked by her turn of attitude. She deserved these words. She deserved the indifferent way that Alex now looked at her, knowing she had betrayed the girl as well as the people close to her. "Just tell me what you want me to do, Alex." she said in a mere whisper, looking at her pleadingly. "Please, just tell me what to do!"

Alex stared at her for a few moments, shaking her head slowly. She stood and walked over to the bed, pushing some of Wendy's blonde hair behind her ear. "Nothing." she said plainly. "Absolutely nothing."

Wendy stared after the woman in shock as she turned quickly and walked away, not sparing her another glance or word… Usually, Alex was the compassionate one of the large Teller/SAMCRO bunch. Through all the shit she had been through in the past two months, she never felt judged in the girl's eyes.

But even a compassionate woman could only be pushed so far before she finally cracked.

* * *

"Aunt Alex! Mama, Aunt Alex is here!"

The woman grinned as she walked through the front door of the Winston home, laughing as Harry Jr. and Ellie immediately rushed to hug her. "Hey squirts, how have you two been? Being good for your mom and dad?"

The two nodded and started off on their own separate tangents, going on about school and other aspects of their lives while Alex simply smiled and listened. Donna watched from the kitchen, tossing her dish tag aside to lean on the doorway and smile. Donna ad Alex knew each other before she and Opie met. They were in the same English class every year in high school and eventually she had gotten close enough to the girl to start bringing her around the club house. Next thing she knew, Donna and her older cousin were dating. Alex couldn't have been happier for the two, young and in love. Opie had told her about their problems now. Donna hated SAMCRO and blamed them for his five-year imprisonment. Alex didn't blame her. For awhile, she was angry at the MC for what had happened to her family. It was part of the reason she ran. But what Donna had to understand was that this life, life with SAMCRO, was all they had known since they were born. They were more comfortable around motorcycles than regular cars. She knew it was hard for the woman, she couldn't even imagine the conflict and struggle to accept the club because it had always been there.

"How are you Donna?" She questioned, giving the woman a hug.

Donna shrugged. "I'm breathing. How are you? Annabelle and your mom doing okay?"

"Define okay." She said with a small smile. "Opie in the garage?"

Donna nodded, her smile faltering a bit. Alex gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before heading out of the kitchen door towards the garage. She found her large cousin there, his head craned over a table full of tools and supplies. For what, she didn't fully know but she could take a guess. He nodded at her as she came to sit on his empty stool beside him, watching his hands deftly put together a number of items.

"Whatcha working in?" She asked, pulling out a cigarette and lighter from her pocket.

"Explosives for the club." He said, eyeing the items in her hand with a small smile.

She quickly slipped them back into her pocket, scooting over to look more closely at his work. Opie was always good at these things. When they were younger, Opie wasn't allowed using fireworks on the Fourth of July because he was sure to blow up something. They always managed to sneak a few things away and went into a field to let Opie go nuts. Eventually, he got so good at it, the club often used his talents.

Nobody could blow up shit like Opie.

"Thought you were done with all that stuff." She said, the sentence coming out more as a question.

"Jax needs my help with a run. Plus I need the extra cash." He pushed away his work for a second to look at his younger cousin. "You need something?"

She felt that too familiar pang of worry at the sound of Jax's name. She wondered if he was okay. He hadn't responded to any of her calls and she had left at least a dozen voice mails and texts for him to answer. He was avoiding her, she knew that much. She had known the man since before she could remember and to this day, she couldn't figure out his thought process. He was a mystery, a rollercoaster that she couldn't see the next turn or hill on.

Alex shook her head and shrugged innocently. "Nope. Just came over to visit my favorite cousin."

"I'm your only cousin."

"Doesn't mean you're not my favorite." She said, smiling as he chuckled. "I didn't wanna go home. I got a lot of shit I don't feel like dealing with."

"Need to talk about it?" He asked her, concern etched in his face.

She shook her head, leaning her head on her propped arm. "Nah, I'm not gonna bother you with my boring problems." She said. "Donna know you're doing the run?"

"Not gonna tell me your problems, but you want me to tell you mine." Opie said, giving her a skeptical look.

Alex shrugged. "You look like you need to talk about it." She said, both of them knowing she was right.

Opie Winston stared straight ahead of him and nothing in particular, a million thoughts going through his head. Three months ago he had gotten out of Stockton expecting his life to be waiting for him. His wife, his kids, his club. He didn't know why he was surprised by how big his kids had gotten or how much the club had changed, but he had been. His wife had even changed. She wasn't that carefree, lighthearted girl that he had fallen in love with and married. She was a hardened woman who had been left alone with two kids while her husband rotted in bed for five years. His aunt had gone through kidney failure in that time and his youngest cousin had become addicted to crank. All while he sat helpless behind bars. Sure, his club and his brothers had tried to help, but there was only so much they could. His responsibilities were his for a reason.

"My kids don't know me, Lex." he said, turning his head to look at her.

She frowned at him, her heart breaking at the tone of his voice and the words that came from his mouth. Reaching forward, she took his hand in hers. "Your kids love you, Ope."

"How the hell can they love somebody they don't know?" he questioned, though it sounded more like he was asking himself than her. "I'm in debt up to my ears. Donna keeps going on and on about she doesn't want me with the club and I don't know what the hell to do. I'm coming to the end of my rope."

"Hey, hey, hey," Alex said, shaking her head slowly. "Opie, your kids love you. Donna loves you. That's not gonna change because of the club or how much money you have in your pocket. She's just… She doesn't want you going away again."

"When you leave a woman alone with two kids for five years, all she knows is that she doesn't want it to happen again." He was right. If Alex were in Donna's place, she'd do whatever she could to make sure the guy she loved never left her that way again. But being who she was and growing up the way she did, she knew that the Sons would do anything they could for SAMCRO. They were a brotherhood. They took care of each other in the most dire of situations. "If I had been out, maybe that shit with Annabelle wouldn't have happened."

This time, Alex's eyes narrowed. "No." she said, shaking her head furiously. "No, that's not anybody's fault. Annabelle is old enough to make her own decisions and it was her decision to shoot up time and time again."

"You don't get it, Lex." he told her, his face fixed with a serious she often seen with her older cousin. He was always so serious about everything. "I made a promise to your dad and Ollie before they died that I would take care of you guys. Can't do that when I'm behind bars."

"Yeah well," Alex said as she huffed slightly, cocking her eyebrows up and down quickly. "At least you had no choice. I ran and didn't look back."

They were silent once again. She knew that Opie agreed with her on that point, but wouldn't say anything. He never would. He would do anything on the planet than hurt her or his family and that's why Alex trusted him with her all. She had Ollie growing up, yeah, but anyone who said she had one brother was a liar. She had Opie. He beat up boyfriends who broke her heart, protected her when she needed it and was always there for her. She tried her best to be there for him in that way, but Opie was stubborn when it came to admitting he needed help. They were similar in that way.

Winston's were stubborn as hell.

"You'll get through this, Opie." she said, offering him a smile. "All of this shit is temporary. Your family? The club? Those are forever."

Opie smiled back at her, his beard twitching a bit as the corners of his mouth lifted. "You need to take your own advice."

She shrugged. "All in due time." she said as she scooted forward. "Now teach me about blowing shit up."

"I don't know if I trust you with this shit, Lex. Remember that time you burned down the tree house in your back yard?"

"Okay, if you're going to take _one _incident from when I was nine into account, we're going to have problems."

* * *

It was late by the time she got back home. The house was dark, except for the kitchen light, telling her that her mother and sister had been in bed for a while. She sighed as she stepped into the house, kicking off her shoes and putting her purse on the coffee table. After the day she had, she was ready to pass out in her bed and enjoy sleeping in since Gemma had given her the day off tomorrow. Perks of being able to call her boss her "Aunt".

She frowned slightly as she heard a rustling in the kitchen and shadows casting against the low light. She guessed her mother was searching for a midnight snack. She crossed the living room to walk through the archway that separated the two rooms, shocked at the sight before her.

Jax looked up at her as she walked in, his foot tapping rapidly and the cigarette in between his fingers almost burned out. Alex hadn't seen him since he left the hospital earlier and he had ignored all of her calls and texts to check on him. He looked tired, a lot of emotions circling on his face. How long had he been there?

"Jax," she breathed out, coming to stand at the table in front of him. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

He took a long drag of his cigarette before answering, stabbing the finished stick into the ashtray before gesturing towards the dishwasher. "Dishwasher is fixed. Said I'd do it."

Alex frowned at the man. Taking a seat across from him, she didn't once take her eyes off of her best friend. She didn't care about the dishwasher. Hell, she had forgotten all about it since she had been so busy worrying about him all day. "Jax…"

"You see the kid?" Jax asked her suddenly, holding a look in his eyes that she couldn't decipher.

She pursed her lips and nodded, remembering her tiny nephew as he lay in his incubator. "Yeah, I saw him."

"How does he look?"

Alex should have been more surprised by the question, but she wasn't. Jax hadn't went to see his son yet. The sight of Abel Teller had broken her heart and made her feel a pain she hadn't before. She could only imagine what Jax would feel to see the boy in his current state. She wished that she could do something, turn back time to keep Wendy from shooting up those months ago or take some of Jax's pain away, but she knew that she couldn't. What could she do? "He's beautiful." she told him, her voice barely above a whisper. "Really, he's just... He's perfect, Jax."

The blonde man nodded, processing the knowledge. But as he nodded, she saw the tears pricking his eyes. As soon as the first sob left his lips, she had her arms around him. She held him as he let it all out, her head resting on top of his as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to him, trying to find as much comfort in her as he could. Her heart broke for him. For him, for Gemma, for Abel and for all the shit that they had been through lately. She missed when they were dumb kids, partying and simply being young and carefree while they could. They had laughed with each other back then, moments like these were rare. Most of those times were made up of him holding her, but she would do it for him when he needed her to. He was her best friend. She was his. They would shed blood for each other, tears and anything else. As she held him tighter, listening quietly to his defeated sobs, she couldn't help but ask herself why they constantly had to deal with this shit. The answer would never come. Not from him and certainly not from her.

All she could do was hold him and hope that maybe this would fill the void that the unanswered question left.

She hoped that maybe she could take away some of his pain.


	5. In Our Blood

Chapter 5

"Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush, and goodnight the old lady whispering "hush"."

The steady beeping of the heart monitor was the only other sound that filled the room other than the woman's soft voice and the occasional rustle as she turned the pages of the book. A little boy lay in the incubator in front of her, his eyes barely open as he looked towards the voice as it read the story. He had moved around a lot more since his surgery, becoming aware of his surroundings and even acknowledging them and the things that they said. It was definitely a step in the right direction. Alex smiled at the little boy, continuing to rock back and forth slowly in the rocking chair as she read through the book in her hand.

"Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere." she finished gently, closing the book with a light "pat". She beamed at the little boy and leaned forward, gazing at him lovingly. "How was that, Abel? Is Aunt Alex getting good at this, or what?"

He wiggled around slightly, a light cooing coming from his lips that made Alex's heart melt. God, she loved this kid. In the short amount of time that he had been on this planet, he had captured her heart completely. She couldn't wait until the day she actually got to hold him, the day when she would get to see Jax be a dad. Abel's surgeries had been huge successes and so far, he had developed normally. Though he was born tweaking, they had weaned him off of the crank in his system fairly quickly. Jax was even giddy at his son's progress. The way the blond man reacted around his kid made her smile every time she saw it. She had even walked in on him reading to him a couple of times or just telling him stories off the top of his head. No one could deny that he loved his son to death and that Abel Teller would be very well taken care of by his family.

"I wish I could stay kid, but I'm going on a trip with your dad." she said, tilting her head slightly. "We're gonna go see Uncle Jury. He's a good old man, a little crazy, but I'm sure you'll get used to that."

She touched the glass lightly with the tips of her fingers. "Your grandma and I are almost done setting up your room. You don't know how hard it was for her to convince your dad not to put Harley-Davidson everywhere." She chuckled lightly, a soft smile settling on your lips. "I won't be around for a couple of days, so I came to see you. I'm sure your dad was here this morning." She sighed and rested her head on a propped arm. "Your grandma will be here everyday so don't worry about being alone. You won't be alone as long as we're all here."

She caught movement in the corner of her eye and looked over to see Tara standing there, smiling at Abel softly. They hadn't talked much since the day Abel was born, but they had managed to stay civil. She knew Jax still cared about her. A blind man could see it. Whether or not he would act on it was another question entirely. Gemma was completely and totally against it. Alex swore she had sat through an hour conversation in which the woman had explained everything that was wrong with the relationship. Alex simply wanted Jax happy. With all that was happening, with Abel, Clay and the club, he needed some kind of happiness. That's why it was good that they were getting away for a couple of days. Away from Charming, away from drama and away from Tara.

Alex stood and kissed the top of the incubator before walking out into the hallway, looking at Tara curiously as she continued standing there, this time looking at her. She glanced into Abel's room once before speaking. "He's getting a lot better" she said with a smile", adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "Thanks for all that you've done."

Tara shrugged, returning her smile. "A lot of it was Dr. Namid, but I helped." She told her, looking at Abel once again. "He really is a special little boy."

Alex nodded in agreement. "That he is." she said, before breathing out a quick sigh and Looking back at her nephew. "Did Jax tell you we won't be in for a couple of days?"

This time, Tara turned her gaze completely on her. Alex furrowed her eyebrows slightly, wondering what she had said to bother her. "He told me that he was going to Nevada but he… He didn't tell me you were going."

There it was. The hint of jealousy that Alex heard in the woman's voice. She would have rolled her eyes if she wasn't trying to be nicer to the woman. Eleven years, and that little problem between them still hadn't changed. "We're going to go visit a friend of our dads'. They all served in the military together." she told the doctor, her eyes boring into her. "Is there a problem with me going?"

"Why would there be a problem?" Tara countered, her tone basically answering Alex's question for her.

"Right," Alex said with a tight tone, not believing her words. "I have to go. You take care, Tara."

Alex brushed past the doctor and began to walk towards the elevators when she suddenly heard her name. She turned, seeing Tara looking at her, looking nervous and slightly… stressed. Alex turned to face the woman, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How… How do you do it?" Tara questioned her, coming to walk closer to her.

Alex cocked her head at the woman, not completely getting what she meant. "Do what?"

"How do you handle the Sons?" Tara asked. The question made a hell of a lot more sense to Alex now. She looked at the woman with a slight frown. She and Tara were almost the same height, with the doctor having an inch or two on her, but it wasn't a startling difference. "I couldn't do it back then, but you could."

Alex shrugged, turning her gaze to the floor. "My dad was SAMCRO. My brother, my cousin, my uncle, my best friend… You don't handle the Sons, Tara, you join in for the ride. The life they live isn't always a half in-half out job." She stepped closer to the woman, her lips pursed and her eyes filled with concern. "I don't know what's going on with you and Jax, but if there is something going on, you have to learn that lesson quick. Jax doesn't have room to be tugged around and away from the club."

"You sound like Gemma."

"Yeah, well, as forthright and angry as my Aunt can be, she's right about a hell of a lot." Alex told her. She stepped closer to the woman, making sure that she was listening to her words carefully. "Think about that. Because if you stress him out more than he already is, trust me, Gemma will be the least of your worries."

Tara narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you threatening me?"

While she and Tara had bumped heads in the past, they had never often to the point where Jax had to worry. They were friendly in front of him and civil any other time, but of course there were those times when Tara voiced her negative opinion against the club that Alex never agreed with. She never threatened Tara and she certainly never let her true opinions about her known.

"I don't have a problem with you, Tara." Alex told her. "I just want Jax to be happy and safe. If that's with you, so be it, but I'm just letting you know that I won't hesitate to do something about it if you do something to fuck him over."

"That's the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" Tara said, making Alex look away from her. "I'm not with Jax."

That surprised her. From the way they had interacted with one another, she was sure that they were together. She half wondered if Tara was lying, but why would she? Alex sighed and turned away, her eyes suddenly catching on to a man watching them from the waiting area, failing to look like he was reading a magazine. If she ever saw a cop in her life...

"What the hell?" She said quietly, looking at Tara. The woman had taken to looking at Abel's chart, she hadn't even seen him. "Hey, do you know that guy?"

Tara's eyebrows furrowed in confusion before she followed her gaze to the man. Alex watched as her expression melted Into shock and then fear. That answered her question on whether she knew the guy. Before she could ask anything, he got up and left, sparing one more glance in Tara's direction.

Alex's skin crawled at the look her gave her. He rubbed her the wrong way, the way he had stared at her and Tara... Something was terribly off about him.

"I, um, I have to go. I have to scrub in for surgery." The doctor said hurriedly before turning on her heel and walking as fast as she could in the other direction, leaving Alex with a lot of unanswered questions and concern.

She stared after the woman and then to the elevator where the man had just disappeared, wondering which one she should go after. Looking back to Tara's retreating form, she sighed and set off towards the man who had watched them.

She walked out of the hospital entrance, her eyes scanning the parking lot for any sign of him. Why had he been watching she and Tara? Why was Tara afraid of him?

"Ms. Tate!"

She turned to find the man, with stylish sunglasses on his face. He waved to her before standing up from his seat beside the entrance and making his way to her. Alex looked him over, crossing her arms over her chest. If leaving Charming for eight years had taught her anything, it was that you couldn't trust anyone. Strangers were dangerous and as much as she tried to seem tough to those who didn't know her, she was still vulnerable. Being short didn't tend to help her in that department.

He pointed at her, a smile reaching his lips. "Hale told me about you. Wow, you're much more good-looking than he said you were."

Alex frowned at him. The idea that her name was even floating through the police department was frightening to her. "That so? Now why the hell would you be asking about me?" She said, her tone sharp and full of warning.

"Just curious." He said, holding out his hand. "I'm Agent Kohn with the ATF. I'm investigating an interstate weapons case." He pulled out his wallet and flashed his badge to her. So she was right, he was a cop.

Alex dragged her gaze from the badge and back to him, not bothering to shake his hand as her arms remained crossed over her chest. "And that would lead you to look for me... Why?"

Kohn shrugged, stuffing his badge back into his pocket. "A few reasons. Your father and brother's deaths and your connection to SAMCRO being a couple of them."

His words made her hair stand on end. She stepped back from him, suddenly feeling vulnerable in front of this man. She didn't know the entirety of what SAMCRO did, it wasn't her business to know. All she knew was that some of their money-making ventures weren't entirely legal. Be that as it may, she was raised right. She knew better

that to say shit about the club that wasn't publicly known to a cop.

"What about them?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "My dad and brother died eight years ago."

"I'm more interested in the nature of their deaths." Kohn said. "Reports say that it was a random shooting."

What was he getting at? Nobody talked about her father and brother's deaths to her. "Yeah," she said with a shrug. "Two idiots with guns decided to fire shots and one of them hit my dad, sent our car off the road."

Kohn nodded, as if memorizing what she was saying. "That's what you were told, but did you know that those guns were illegally obtained?"

Alex shrugged. "I figured." She wanted to turn and walk away from this conversation as fast as she could. She hoped that Jax and Opie would pull up and rescue her from this semi interrogation. What would make her look more guilty? Walking away without answering the questions or lying her ass off?"

"Did you also know that the Sons of Anarchy are under investigation for selling and transporting illegal guns?"

It took a moment for the information to sink in. She wondered if he was lying, trying to throw her off and shake her resolve. SAMCRO wouldn't do anything to hurt her or her family. Hell, they were her family.

Dismissing the thoughts quickly, she raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a skeptical look. "You do know that the Sons are just a bunch of guys on bikes, right?" She asked, letting her body relax. "A motorcycle club and nothing else."

Kohn gave her a disbelieving look and pursed his lips. "We both know they're more than that."

"Do we?" Alex countered.

"What can you tell me about Jax Teller and Tara Knowles?"

So he did know Tara and it obviously went beyond his so-called investigation. Alex cast her eyes to the ground and shook her head. "You sure you're investigating the Sons, or Tara?" She asked him, noting the short glare he sent her. "How do you know her?"

"That's personal and has nothing to do with this conversation."

"And my dad and older brother dying isn't?" She said just as she heard a motorcycle coming behind her. "Are you charging me with anything, Agent Kohn?"

He gave her a confused look. "What? No."

"Then I guess we don't have anything else to talk about." She said just as she looked back to see Jax pulling into the hospital pairing lot. She felt relief flood her body as she seen him. Turning her eyes back to Kohn, she shook her head. "Tara's not associated with the club, by the way. Not anymore."

"And how do you know that?" He questioned, his eyes stuck on Jax.

She shrugged just as Jax stopped behind her. "Facts." She said as she turned as walked towards the black Dyna.

Jax eyed Kohn warily, flicking his cigarette away as Alex settled on the bike behind him. "Who the hell is that?"

Alex glanced at Kohn as the man watched them from the hospital entrance. "Agent Kohn with the ATF" She said, taking the second helmet Jax had borrowed from Bobby and securing it to her head.

Jax looked the man up and down, not liking the way he still stared at Alex. "What the hell is he doing here talking to you?"

Alex followed his gaze back to the agent, frowning as he waved at them. "I... I don't know yet."

* * *

Jax closed the black binder where he kept his father's manuscript, a sigh escaping his lips in the form of cigarette smoke. It had been a few days since he had started reading it and the voice of his dead father had started echoing through his everyday life. He had started looking at things differently. The club, Clay, even his mother. His father had a view of the future that simply wasn't... This. He talked about riding around with Piney and Thomas Tate freely, with nothing binding them but the club and family. Running guns wasn't in his plan, it never was. But that's where the club has been headed.

He gazed out at Teller-Morrow from his rooftop before standing up and making his way downstairs. Wouldn't be long before they had to leave for Nevada and he was

sure Alex wasn't anywhere near ready if he knew her.

He smiled at the thought of his best friend. The girl was tough as nails when she wanted to be. She had to be if she wanted to put up with him and Opie, but she was special. He had seen many women come into his life, crow eaters and potential monogamy all in one, but he had constants. His mother and Alex were those constants. Alex had been around him for as long as he could remember. Their dad's had fought in the war together and eventually, they were riding motorcycles together. Piney Winston, Thomas Tate and John Teller were bad ass bastards that ran Charming and made it what it was today. Out of their bullshit came he, Opie and Alex.

While he and Alex weren't as close as she and her cousin were, they were close enough where they would gladly do a lot of stupid shit to make sure the other was okay. He'd give an arm for her and gladly kill any man who dared to fuck with her. That was his best friend, his girl. The shit they had been through together didn't compare to anything else.

He made his way towards his dorm room, the binder at his side. He knew Alex was waiting for him, but the sight he was met with wasn't what he was expecting. Alex stood in the center of his room, shirtless beside her bra and the body armor that she was struggling with. He leaned on the doorway and watched her for a moment, a chuckle leaving his lips at her predicament. Her head shot up when she heard him, hair tossed every which way and her face fixed with frustration.

"This thing is fucking stupid." She said, dropping her hands to her side in defeat. The armor was still open, revealing her sides.

Jax shook his head and crossed over to her, standing in front of her with an amused expression. "It was already set up for you, darlin', all you had to do was put it on."

"Yeah, well..." She looked away from her and let out a sharp huff of breath. "Help me with this thing, will ya?"

He laughed and stepped closer to her, pulling it up and lifting it over her head completely. For a moment, he let his eyes skin over her chest while her head was occupied. Yeah, Alex had certainly changed a lot. At one point, she was skinnier and had a girlish body, not the womanly one she had now. It was curvy, full... Sexy. Even he had to admit that. He tore his eyes away from her and stepped back with the armor in hand.

She crossed her arms over her chest and stood and watched him fiddle with the vest. "You excited to head to Nevada?"

"That's a word for it." He said, keeping his eyes on the vest so they wouldn't stray to Alex and the way her breasts squeezed together with her crossed arms. "This is business first, Lex. If some shit happens, you have to disappear."

"Mhm."

Jax looked up at her.l and shot her a meaningful glance. "Can't have shit happen to you. We don't usually take women on runs with us."

"You got it, Mr. VP." She said, giving him a smile. "Between you and Opie, I can't get a scratch without hearing something about it."

"You wouldn't if it was only just a scratch." Jax said with a smirk. "Alright, turn around, let's get you strapped up."

Alex rolled her eyes and turned so that her back was facing him. "Don't look at my ass."

"Don't show it to me." he joked along, lifting the vest to fit it over her. Once it was on her body, he pulled the straps around so that it fit tightly. "Alright you're good."

Alex turned so that she was facing him again and smiled in gratitude as she pulled her hair from under the vest. She eyed him as he began to move about his room, putting his black binder on a shelf with the rest of his books. "What's in that thing anyway?" she asked him, reaching down to get her shirt from his bed.

"What's what?" he said, shedding his own shirt to put on his vest.

"That binder." she said, watching as he paused in his movements for a moment. "I always see you reading it."

He shrugged and slipped the vest on, strapping it around his midsection. "Just some old journal entries from my dad." he told her, avoiding her eyes. "I found a bunch of them when I was looking for baby stuff in storage."

Alex nodded in understanding and sat on his bed, watching him as he got dressed. Her eyes skimmed his muscles and his SAMCRO tattoo peeking out from above the black vest. She had been present when he got Abel's name tattooed on his chest, a choice she had heavily appreciated and supported. She half-wondered if she should get another tattoo soon. Sitting back so that she rested on her elbows on the bed, she gestured towards his binder. "Can I read them sometime?" she asked. "Might be nice to see what Uncle John wrote."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." he told her, walking over to her. He laid down next to her, staring up at his ceiling. "...Your dad ever talk about another vision for the club?"

She looked at him, a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he looked at her as he spoke, his face full of seriousness. "Did he ever say that the club was heading in the wrong direction? Like… he, my dad and Piney had a different vision?"

Alex raised an eyebrow and thought back to her father and his love for SAMCRO. He always talked about how proud he was of their brotherhood and the way they protected their home. Not once did he praise the outlaw or the life that they led. He always said that the Sons were a family, not a gang. "Sometimes." she said, her voice a mere whisper as she turned to face him on the bed, her head resting on his arm. "He hated what the outlaw did to our family... To yours and everyone else's. It wasn't something he believed in. But you know dad, he'd do anything for the club."

"Good old Uncle Tom." Jax muttered, turning his head to her. Their faces were inches apart, eyes catching each other. This position wasn't awkward or unfamiliar to them.

She furrowed her eyebrows a bit in thought, pulling her eyes from his. "Why'd you ask that?" she said. "Does it have something to do with you and Clay?" She wasn't stupid, she saw the tension between the two men, but she hadn't asked him about it yet.

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm just… talking." he said just as a knock erupted from the door. "What?"

The door opened, revealing Bobby. The older man took one glance at the two on the bed and smiled, shaking his head. "Time to go, you two. You can do all that cuddle shit when we get to Nevada." he told them with a chuckle before leaving the two along once again.

Both Jax and Alex rolled their eyes at the man and stood, with Jax pulling Alex off of the bed. She adjusted her shirt and pushed her hair back, looking at Jax as he gathered her things with his back turned. She bit her lip, wondering if she should ask the question poking at the back of her head.

"Hey Jax?"

"Hm?"

She came to lean on the dresser beside where he was standing, making him look at her. "If there was shit going down, you'd tell me right? I mean… I got you and Ope and Piney to worry about."

He gave her a crooked grin and leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Course' Lex." he told her. "But you know us men can handle ourselves."

"Like hell you can." she said, scowling at his laughter as they walked out of the room. "Without us women, you'd all drown in alcohol and pussy."

He rolled his eyes at her and didn't respond. He'd never say it out loud, but she was right.

Without Alex and his mom, he didn't know where he'd be.

* * *

She stared into the darkness of his room, her body stiff as she focused on the weight of his arm around her naked body. Every part of her was sore and probably black and blue, but she had been too afraid to check. Right now, she was just focused on getting out of here.

She hoped that the drugs she had put in his food had finally hit him as she gently lifted his arm off of her. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest, she could feel the pulsing in her head and hands. Fear swept through her the more she moved out of the bed, praying to God that he wouldn't suddenly wake up and realize what she was doing. Getting out of here and driving as far away as she could was her goal, and she would gladly fight him to the death if she had to.

Letting out a deep breath, she climbed out of the bed and looked back at him. He hadn't moved a bit. His breathing was deep and slow, signifying that he was in the deepest sleep that he had probably ever been in. Good, she needed him to stay that way. She was quick to slip on her clothes and grab her purse as soon as her feet hit the floor. Her body hurt the whole way, but she tried to put it to the back of her head for just a little longer. She grabbed his keys off of the mantle and looked back at the bastard one more time before she went over to the window. Going downstairs out of the front door would set off the alarm. She opened it and climbed out, gripping the piping along the side of the house just like she had planned.

For months she had put up with this bullshit. The abuse, the utter torture. But no more. Now, she was getting out.

She finally reached the ground and took in a deep breath of cold air, the freedom making her feel exhilarated despite the fact that having not been on her feet in some time was giving her a headache. Flipping the hood on her jacket, she walked quickly to the front of the house and made sure that whatever lackies he had sitting around were gone. His car sat out front, a dump compared to the pretty Harley he had sitting in his garage. Her car had conveniently had its tires slashed, so his was the only option. She'd dump it later on, but she had to get out of here.

Quickly opening the car door, she got in and immediately started the car, tearing out of the driveway. There was no way that she'd continue being his punching bag.

Not anymore.

"That was fucking bullshit." Alex hissed as she whipped off her helmet and swung her leg off of Jax's bike.

"Lex-"

"Absolute bullshit." she continued to rant as she stomped off towards the convenience store that they had stopped at. "You said that we'd be under the radar, that no shit would pop off. Well, the bullets flying past my head weren't under the fucking radar."

Jax cursed underneath his breath as she stalked into the store, turning his eyes to Bobby who shook his head at the situation. "How the hell is this shit my fault?"

Bobby shook his head. "She's just spooked, Jackie Boy. Go calm her down." He said as he took off his own helmet.

Jax slammed his helmet down on the seat and followed her into the store. They had planned to ride to Indian Hills with no problems, but of course problems had risen. Mayans had tailed them for a couple of miles and shot at them. While usually, Jax would have very well turned and fired back, Alex had been on the back of bike a his main concern was her safety. They had managed to get behind them and scared them off, but that didn't changed that Alex had been shot at. That brought up some pretty bad memories for her.

Jax looked over the aisles, finding Alex's dark-haired head poking out from the top. He took in a deep breath and walked to her, watching as she idly looked through the snacks. He had lent her his spare riding jacket and it drowned her small form, the sleeves going well past her arms and the bottom reaching past her mid-thigh. Jax would have called her adorable had she not been pissed at him.

"Look, I'm sorry." Jax said as he came to stand beside her. "Shit shouldn't have gone down like that."

Alex took her time pulling her eyes to him, pursing her lips slightly. She looked spooked and Jax honestly wished that he could quell whatever demons had decided to resurface. But he knew that was easier said than done. "No, it's not your fault. I just, uh, don't really like being shot at. Much less while driving." She told him before looking back to the snacks.

Jax nodded in understanding and brought her into his arms for a hug. She rested her head on his chest and simply let him hold her for a moment. He kissed the top of her head, trying hard to convey some comfort to her. "I won't let shit happen to you, alright? Not while I'm alive and breathing."

She nodded. "Yeah, I know." She said, smiling at him. "When did you become such a teddy bear?"

"You had to ruin it, didn't you? Last time I give your ass a hug."

"Asshole, what the hell happened to, "I won't let shit happen to you"?" She countered jokingly.

Jax gave her a cocky grin. "Oh I still won't. You just won't be getting anymore hugs from me."

Alex turned to Bobby as the man walked down the aisle beside theirs, giving him a pleading look. "Bobby, help me out here."

"Uh uh, I learned a long time ago to stay out of you two's crap."

"You just get older and wiser, Bobby." Jax chuckled, grabbing a bag of nuts and making his way to the counter. He set a few bills on the counter for himself and Alex and turned to her. "I gotta go call Clay."

Alex merely nodded at him as he walked to the far side of the store and set her own snacks on the counter, smiling at the cashier as the man stared at them warily. She was used to looks like that. Two bikers like Jax and Bobby walking into your store could be rather intimidating, especially with their reputation. Alex slipped her aviators back onto her face and looked outside towards the bike, spotting a man and woman standing near them. She thought nothing of it until the man sat on Jax's bike.

"Oh shit." she muttered, glancing back at Bobby as he continued scouring the shelves for something to eat. She grabbed the snacks and Jax's change off of the counter and made her way outside towards Jax and Bobby's Harleys.

She vaguely heard the two arguing as the woman held up a phone to take a picture of the man as he posed on Jax's bike. Alex made sure to glance back at the store to make sure Bobby and Jax were still inside before making her way over and standing beside the woman.

"You know," Alex began, making the woman jump at her sudden appearance. "You shouldn't sit on someone else's bike. That shit could get you hurt."

The man simply glared at her. "Nobody asked you." he grunted at her. "Get lost, bitch."

The insult simply made her raise her eyebrow and cross her arms over her chest. The woman looked back and forth between the two, the nervousness clear on her face as she shakily held up the phone. Alex noted the busted lip and bruises that marred her face before she looked back at the man with a glare on her face.

"I could give a flying fuck who asked me, get the fuck off the bike." she gritted out.

"Did I stutter? I said get lost bitch." he said before looking to the girl. "Are you fucking stupid? Take the goddamn picture."

The woman struggled with the phone. "I-I'm sorry. I can't find the button." she said before looking back at Alex. "I'm so sorry."

"Here let me."

Alex and the woman looked over their shoulder to see Jax reach for the phone. Alex felt a swell of happiness at seeing him, and the look on the guy's face at the appearance of the two Sons was priceless. A sarcastic smile was planted on Jax face, one that told her that Jax was anything but happy about the situation. Alex let a smirk slip onto her face and simply adjusted the aviators on her face as she watched the scene in front of her unfold.

"Holy shit." the woman said. "I'm so sorry. I told him not to sit on your bike."

Jax shook his head. "Nah, it's cool." It wasn't. Jax looked at the man, watching him for a moment. "You look like a guy who gets what he wants. You into Harleys?"

The man shrugged, looking a tad confused at the situation as his eyes jutted between Alex and Jax. "Yeah, I mean, they look nice but I'm way into the slant bikes for the speed." he said.

Jax nodded. "Right." He looked at the man's girlfriend, catching a glimpse of her battered face. "You do that to her face?"

"Bitch has a mouth on her." he said before glancing at Alex. "A lot like yours actually."

Alex's glare only deepened and she started to walk forward but Bobby grabbed her forearm and held her back. Jax glanced back at her, the look on his face both cool and collected. "Yeah, I heard what you said to her. I'd get rid of her, except I'm pretty sure she'd cut my dick off." he said before looking back at him and holding up the phone. "Alright, let's get this picture done. Smile and say cheese."

The man beamed at the camera and posed. The woman simply looked on in shock as Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side to avoid whatever Jax had in store for the man. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"That's before." Bobby muttered as he took the phone from Jax and looked at it.

The man looked at Bobby in confusion. "Before? Before what?"

Jax slammed his helmet into the guy's face, sending him tumbling to the ground. The sickening crack and the blood that splattered the ground told Alex that he would definitely be bruised for the next few weeks. She raised her eyebrow at the groaning man while the blonde stared at her boyfriend in shock.

"Never sit on another man's bike, asshole." Jax told him in a low, menacing voice as he wiped his helmet off. "And watch your goddamn mouth when talking to my friend over there."

The woman put a hand over her mouth in shock, a smile lightly gracing her face. "Holy shit."

"Shut up bitch!" the man yelled, only to groan as he got a kick in the stomach from Bobby.

"Have a little respect for the fairer sex." Bobby said, clicking a picture once again. "That's after."

Alex looked down at the man as he writhed on the ground, a smirk on her face. She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head. "I told you not to sit on the bike." she told him while shaking her head. She glanced over to where the woman and Jax were talking, taking note of the smile on Jax's face. Looks like she wasn't riding on the back of his bike anymore.

Glancing to Bobby, she gave him a tight, forced smile. "Guess I'm riding bitch on your bike, Bobby." she said, grabbing her helmet from the back of Jax's bike without sparing him another glance. She could feel his eyes on her but chose not to look back.

"It ain't bitch with you darlin', it's a privilege." Bobby said as she swung her leg over to settle behind him.

Alex smiled and wrapped her arms around Bobby's waist. She spared a glance at the woman -Cindy as she introduced herself- and couldn't put a finger on the feeling settling in her gut. This was typical Jax behavior, she had seen it hundreds of times before.

But why did this feel so different?

* * *

"Come on baby, just one hit."

Annabelle stared at the needle sitting on the table in front of them, drawing her bottom lip in between her teeth. He bit and nipped at her neck, sliding his hand up her thigh in a tempting and seductive way. A haze of smoke from his cigarette hung in the air and made the room even more stifling than it already was. His dingy apartment held a lot of good memories for her. That was probably the reason she was here now. The good memories. But as she sat on his couch and took in how dirty and decrepit the small home was, she realized what a haze she had lived in once upon a time. She realized that the man she was hopelessly in love with was skinnier than when she had left him and not at all in good health. It was clear in his pale skin and bloodshot eyes. Even his once full hair was thinning. Had she been that way? Had her mother, her sister and her dear older cousin looked at her and seen what she was seeing now in this man?

"No, Anthony." she told him, pushing a lock of her brown hair behind her ear.

He gave her a heavy sigh, one she recognized he only gave when he was annoyed. "Jesus christ, Anna, don't tell me you're still listening to your sister."

She turned and looked at him with vibrant hazel eyes, catching the gaze of his dull brown ones. "You didn't have to go to rehab, Tony." she told him in a bitter tone. "I promised my family I'd stay sober and I want to."

"Sobriety is for the old and boring, sweet cheeks." he said with a chuckle as he sat back on the couch and took a puff of his cigarette. "One hit won't kill ya."

She shook her head. "Yeah but it looks like it's killing you, baby." Her tone was barely above a whisper as she moved a hand to push some of his light brown hair from his clammy and sweaty face. "You need to get clean."

He glared at her, his jaw clenching as anger began overtaking him. "Why? You think because you and perfect family live on the straight that you're better than me?"

"No, I think you need to get clean because you look like shit and you live like shit." she snapped at him, drawing her hand away from his face. "And don't talk shit about my family, Tony."

"You spent the past three years complaining about your family's bullshit, and now you wanna defend them?" he shot back. "Just because your self-righteous sister came back and "showed you the light" doesn't mean you gotta come in and tell me what the fuck to do."

Annabelle stared at him. It was a long, hard look that she was using to convey just how pissed off and worried about him she was. But it didn't seem to be sinking in to him. She wish it had. One look from Alex or Opie and she was putty in their hands, but Anthony had never been that way. It was one of the reasons she cared about him so much.

"Do you love me?" she asked more to herself than him. None the less, she wanted an answer from him.

He reached up with thin and shaking hands and ran his fingers through her hair, a smile gracing his features. "Always, baby."

She turned to face him fully, making sure that he saw her as she spoke her next words. "And you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Of course."

"Well you're not going to be able to if you don't get clean." she told him, tears pricking her eyes. "Tony… I can't bury you. I buried my dad, my brother… I can't put you in the ground like I did them. I can't go through that shit again. So please," she gripped the sides of his head and looked him in the eyes with her own pleading, tear stricken ones. "Please get clean, baby. Please? Just promise me."

He remained silent. He stared at her with an emotionless expression that gave her all the answer that she needed. She didn't bother holding back the tears as she slowly released his face and let them drop to her sides in defeat. Wordlessly, she got up from the couch and walked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. A swell of emotion swept through her. Heartbreak, anger, weakness. She couldn't do anything about it. That was what attracted her to getting high in the first place. Emotions were a product of sobriety. She could ignore them otherwise.

As she pushed open the door to the apartment and walked out, she cursed at the man who leaned against his truck in front of her. With his oxygen tank on the pouch on his belt, he gave her a hard look. Just like her mom did. It annoyed her how her mother and uncle looked alike. They had the same expressions and mannerisms down to the way they talked. The way they treated people, however, was wildly different.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she approached him. "Hey Uncle Piney… what are you doing here?"

Piney shrugged. "I was across the street getting gas and I saw you go in there." He looked up at the rundown building and then turned his eyes back to her. "This one of the places you use at?"

Annabelle shook her head immediately. "No… I mean," She bit her lip and looked down at her shoes. "Not anymore."

"Hey, look up at me." Piney said. "Winston's don't look down. Neither do Tate's, so keep your goddamn head up, kid."

She did as she was told and looked up at him, letting him see the tears streaming down her face. Piney let his angry stare fade slightly at the sight of his tearful niece. He always had a soft spot for the women of their family. She, Donna and Alex were always treated like queens by him. It was how they knew he would have their backs through anything.

"I didn't do anything, Uncle Piney." she said, wiping tears away from her face. "I promise."

"I believe ya, kid." he told her, genuinely meaning it. "But Opie, Alex and your Mama? They ain't as trustin' of you anymore."

Annabelle nodded. "Yeah I know… I just had to do something. I thought with Alex being gone, this would be the best time." She kicked her foot across the ground and bit her lip. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

Piney shook his head. "Do I look like a damn snitch to you?" he said, drawing a smile from the girl. "I just want you stay out of trouble, kid. I don't wanna see you goin' back in that place and hurtin' yourself like you did. And I'm damn sure not gonna let you hurt your Mama and sister. Angel and Ollie would be turnin' in their graves." He gestured to his pickup and began to walk to the other side. "Get in, I'll give you a ride home."

She nodded and got into the pickup, settling back into the familiar seat. As he started up the old truck and started down the road, she looked over at him with a curious gaze. "How did you know I wasn't using?"

Piney glanced at her before quickly pulling his eyes back to the road. "Used to do this shit with your mom all the time. Pickin' her up from different places, seein' her hobbling out high as a kite. You aren't like her and I know that. You're a good kid. You're dad knew, and I know it." he said, ruffling her hair like he used to when she was a little kid, much to her playful annoyance. "Just stay a good kid and I always got ya'."

Annabelle couldn't help but smile as she brushed her hair back into place. She looked back at the apartment building as it disappeared in the distance, wondering how she could help him get out of the place she had tried so hard to escape from.


End file.
